


If You Only Knew Me

by PrincessJaqulineChess1031



Category: Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure, Tangled (2010), Tangled: The Series (Cartoon), The Little Mermaid (1989)
Genre: Adoption, Angst, Blood is seen, Cassandra is sarcastic and basically herself, Dreams That Mean Stuff, Family, Father-Son Relationship, Flynn is here too and just wants to know what is happening, Frederic is really bad at the parenting thing but what else is new, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, I guess techincally a crossover with The Little Mermaid?, Is Moonmist even a thing?, Low-Key Sassy Rudiger, Momma's Boy Varian, Moonmist, Mother-Son Relationship, Nigel deserves an award after all Varian puts him through, RAPUNZEL IS HERE AND READY TO HAVE FUN!, RUDIGER HAS ARRIVED, Slight reference to injury, TIME FOR SOME WITCHES, Unconevntional father-son bonding, Varain is adorable as a little kid, Varian is like really philosophical as kid like who knew?, and gothel too but like who cares about her, but no gore
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-22
Updated: 2018-11-12
Packaged: 2019-04-26 12:14:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 24
Words: 70,813
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14401929
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrincessJaqulineChess1031/pseuds/PrincessJaqulineChess1031
Summary: Quirin's past catches up with him, and he leaves an infant Varian in the hands of the two kindest people he knows: Arianna and Frederic. This is the story of a young prince living a life he was never born to have, but one chosen for him thanks to tragedy and stories beyond his control.Varian's not the perfect prince, but soon or later he might just get the hang of this royal thing. But when your sister is missing, your Dad's as distant as they come, and you have dreams you can't remember -- it just might take a little while.PrinceVarian!AU





	1. On The Steps of The Palace

**Author's Note:**

> Chapter Summary: Arianna is given a package found on the front steps and is surprised by what it is.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Summary: Arianna discovers a suprise on the steps of the palace.

Arianna twirled a strand of her brunette hair as she wrote on the paper in front of her, not really all that sure what she was writing down.

She supposed she should be paying more attention to the legislation’s finer points, but she really couldn’t bring herself to leave her stupor. Nigel had been sure to go over the finer points with her earlier in the day ad nauseum which managed to keep her guilt about it had a minimum, considering she at least had a working knowledge of the ordinance she was drafting. Not that she would completely ignore her job or what she was responsible for, but still, a bit of distance from it had come to be the expectation. 

She hadn’t meant for it to be this way. Being Queen was an important duty that she had trained for and one that she didn’t take lightly. But ever since that day, things hadn’t been quite the same. Ever since Rapunzel had been stolen away, the only thing she could think of was her baby girl, lost and alone in a world. 

That fear for Rapunzel and the hope that she would return one day was omni-present in her life, and she supposed her husband’s as well. It had slowly gotten easier to bear, but it was always there. In the back of their heads, at the forefront of their lives, in the face of every little girl they saw, it was all-consuming and frightening. 

Even now as she sat in her study, all her mind could drift back to was her little girl. She had had held her a grand total of three times before some madwoman in the dead of night stuck a claim on her. The way she felt in her arms was forever imprinted on her, the emerald gaze of her daughter seared into her brain. 

After an hour of trying and failing to get through this tax revision, she eventually resolved to work on this later. Frederic would wish to see it as well after her returned from his diplomatic trip to Arendalle, so she could always just finish it when he returned. The brunette stood with a sigh and shuffled the papers into the corner of her desk. 

A gust of wind blew open the window in the corner, dragging a few flakes of snow. Arianna shivered as the wind crept onto her and she hurried to shut the glass. Arianna rubbed her hands together and considered going to get her coat – it was due to get colder as the night dragged on, and one could never be sure when it came to warmth. 

“Your Majesty,” came a knock on the door. Arianna turned to see it opening, Nigel and a palace guard entering the room. Arianna smiled at the image of her and Frederic’s advisor; although he could far too prim and stuffy for Arianna at times, his insights and understanding over their grief had been invaluable. The transition from his predecessor three years ago had been rocky at first, given that Quirin was their oldest friend and Nigel couldn’t be more different from him, but over time her appreciation for the brunet statesman had only grown. 

“Nigel,” Arianna greeted with a warm smile. Arianna nodded at acknowledgment of the guard; she didn’t know his name, but she recognized him as one of the rising stars of the guards. Rumor had it, he would be named Capitan of the Guard with in the next few years. Her brow quirked at the basket in his arms, a small blanket wrapped within the wicker container. 

“We hate to interrupt you, I know you’re very busy,” Nigel said, and Arianna scoffed internally. “But this was found outside with a note.” 

Arianna pursued her lips in confusion and walked over to the guard and felt her heart stop at the blanket when she saw it  _move._ Her eyes widened as the item inside the basket rolled over, revealing a head poking out of the light blue blanket. Tresses of raven hair and a streak of blue hair lolled over a small face with a button nose and a smattering of freckles. 

It was a baby. 

“You…. you said there was a note,” Arianna eventually said. Nigel nodded. “Let me see it.” 

Nigel rushed to produce the note from his coat and handed over the her. Arianna took it with shaking hands, finding familiar handwriting scrawled across the envelope. It was addressed simply, bearing only her and Fredrick’s names, not even title to go along with it. 

She opened it slowly and felt her heart break in a thousand pieces as she read it. 

_Dearest Fred_ _eric_ _and Arianna,_

_I wish this letter never needed being written but I fear my choices are now limited. I left your service as advisor nearly three years ago and I haven’t made your company in nearly half that time, the last recollection of our meeting was at the wedding of me and my wife a year ago._

_In that time,_ _we have come to have a son named Varian. This unfortunately cost the price of Maria’s life, leaving me a widower and Varian motherless._

_For the past two months I have cared for Varian as his sole guardian. But the life I had before I was under your employment is catching up with me. I fear that I have only a week left before they find me_ _._

_I have no right to ask, and I wish I did not have to, but I ask that you care for Varian. You are my oldest and my most trusted friends, and I know that Varian will_ _be cared_ _for and loved under your care. It is only you I can trust with the truth of my past, and the only ones I can trust to keep Varian safe from it._

_He is all I have in this world. Please – this is all I_ _ask,_ _and this is my final wish. Take care of my son. Please._

_When the time is right, tell him of me. Tell him how much I love_ _him, and_ _tell him that all I wanted was for him to be safe._

_Your old friend,_

_Quirin_

Arianna felt herself want to tear at the news Quirin had sent, but she refused to let herself. Arianna looked down at the basket and felt something grow in her as she stared at the face of the little boy. 

“Is it…is it alright if I hold him?” Arianna asked the guard. The young man seemed surprised at being addressed, and looked between the Queen and Nigel, as if asking if it was proper for him to speak with her directly. Nigel inclined his head towards the Queen urgently, a silent order to quickly answer the royal woman. 

“Oh, uh, yes, of course,” the guard answered. “He hasn’t reacted wildly to being held, if that’s what you want to know.” 

Arianna nodded and reached down to pick up the small bundle. It was strange almost, the second nature that took over her. She had held her daughter so little and yet the correct way to hold him came to her, the weight perfectly balanced between her two arms and his neck supported. 

His eyes opened barely at the contact, and a pair of bright blue eyes stared back up at her before fluttering closed again in fatigue. She reached down with a single finger, which she used to gently brush against Varian’s cheek. His hand sprung at the touch, and he curled his little fingers around her long, slender finger. 

She gasped at the contact as she felt the memory of Rapunzel rushing back to her. And then just as quick, the memory began to fade, not to be replaced by this one, but to be considered side-by-side. That feeling that had started to grow suddenly exploded across her chest – making her feel so much lighter and free than a moment before. 

“Do we know how long he was outside?” Arianna asked. 

“We have no way of no knowing,” the guard said honestly. “But it couldn’t have been more than a half hour. A rotating patrol caught him on their second go around the grounds.” 

Half an hour. That’s how long this little boy had been out in the cold, flurries falling around him. Had Quirin been here, or had he given Varian to someone else and told them to bring him here? If it had been Quirin, had he hesitated, or had he left his son and ran?

One half hour. In that half hour, Varian’s life had come to rest in the hands of a Queen. 

“Your Majesty, what would you like to do with the child?” Nigel asked. Arianna looked up at him, conflicted. The envelope was sealed when she gained possession, so Nigel obviously hadn’t read it and didn’t know the story of how Varian was here, let alone what his name was. To him, this was an orphan thrust upon the steps of the palace. 

In her head, she knew she should wait for Frederic to return before making definite decisions on Varian. But in her heart, she knew she couldn’t betray the trust of her dear friend like this, by sending away his child in the days he most needed someone. 

“Varian will stay with us,” Arianna said in a soft, maternal voice as she stared back down at the boy in her arms. 

“But Your Majesty –”

“Varian will be staying with us,” Arianna said again, her tone a bit more forceful. Arianna turned towards the guard and nodded at him again. “You are dismissed.”

The guard gave a slight bow and left, leaving the wicker basket on a table by the door. He shut the door behind him, leaving Arianna with a very indignant looking Nigel.

“Your Majesty, with all due respect, you can’t be serious,” Nigel said. “We have no idea where this child comes from – how you even know his name is a mystery to me – and besides, you have no arrangements to care for him.”

“I do, actually,” Arianna said gently, brushing away some of Varian’s hair. “His father is a dear friend of mine, and it now falls to me to care for him. And I’m sure we have more than enough supplies to care for him.”

It had seemed a self-imposed curse, when she had decided to not get rid of Rapunzel’s baby items. Enough time had passed that even if Rapunzel returned tonight, she could never use the crib or room Arianna had designed for her forever ago.  She hadn’t gotten rid of it, out of some misguided attempt to hang onto the time she had had with Rapunzel, but now it seemed they were to finally to be of some use besides painful memories. 

Arianna smiled at Varian and promised herself that Varian would be safe her. No matter what it took. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More Tangled content? I've become obbessed. Help.
> 
> This will follow Varian as he grows up in the palace, what he's up to in the events of the movie, and Tangled: The Series adventures. 
> 
> He's so much fun to write and I love hom so much, and I hope you guys enjoy this ride as much as me!


	2. Once I Was Hopeful

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Summary: Frederic returns to Corona and takes the surprise worse than Arianna.

Frederic arrived in Corona to find that the sun was shining brilliantly on this cold day. Frederic was grateful for the break in the weather; the first two weeks he had spent in Arendalle had been snowy and miserable, and from the reports it seemed the storm had made its way to Corona next. It had been a stroke of thankful luck he had managed to sail the short trip with no serious complications.

He shifted his papers in his lap as the carriage to the castle bumped along to the castle. It was a more concise reading of what he had discovered in Arendalle, which would be most helpful if he should ever need refreshing. While he had been interested in the alliance between Arendalle and Corona expanding, he would be lying if he said his true interest wasn’t in the rumors of magic held by the eldest princess.

It had turned out the rumor had been unfounded for the most part, Frederic hadn’t been able to spend enough time with the royal family in completion to know. But just from the portraits and the little he saw of the young girls, he knew neither of the princess of Arendalle were his little lost princess.

It had been a disappointment of course, but what else was new?

They arrived at the palace soon enough, and Frederic was greeted by the sight of Nigel and a few miscellaneous guards. Nigel had a somewhat tight smile as he approached, slipping the papers into a bag over his shoulder.

“Nigel, wonderful to see you after so long,” Frederic greeted, his crow’s feet crinkling up in a smile.

“It has only been a month and a half, Your Majesty,” Nigel said with the barest hint of humor in his voice. Frederic chuckled and fell into step with him as they made their way into the palace.

“Much can happen in a month and a half,” Frederic said. “Speaking of which, what of note has happened since my departure?”

Nigel fidgeted for a moment, which Frederic took as a sign something had happened while he was away. Nigel eventually shook his head and moved a bit ahead of him and lead him down the hallways for personal rooms.

“Queen Arianna made her way through some of the newest tax legislation, and she wishes for you to look them over before you enact them,” Nigel said. Frederic nodded in understanding. That was the most logical thing to go – get two sets of eyes on it, make sure it’s fair and just.

“Is that all?” Fredrick asked.

“Yes, well, not exactly,” Nigel said uncertainly, coming to stop at the edge of the hall. Frederic’s eyes darkened when he came to realize what door they had landed on and turned towards Nigel with a blasphemous expression.

“Why have you brought me to Rapunzel’s room?” Frederic demanded. If this was some joke Nigel wished to pull…

Nigel gulped and pulled at the collar of his shirt. “I believe it is best if Queen Arianna explained.” Nigel reached over and pushed open the door lightly before bowing as a parting, and quickly rushing down the other direction of the hall. Frederic lingered on him for a moment, finding his behavior most peculiar, before pushing the door open a bit more.

He heard the sound of a baby’s laugh and for a moment, the laws of time did not matter. His heart forgot what his mind knew – that it was four year’s later, that so much time had passed there was no way she could be a baby, but still his first thought was _Rapunzel. Rapunzel had returned._

He thrust the door open within the second, and found Arianna sitting in a chair in the corner. In her arms was a baby, arms reaching up to touch her face with a whimsical laugh. Arianna was smiling down at the child, taking one hand in her own gently.

“Arianna….?”

The brunette looked up at the sound of his voice and quickly rose to stand, adjusting the baby so that it was resting in the crook of one of her arms. The rush of hearing the baby was quickly dissipating and Fredrick was noticing all the things that did not make the baby Rapunzel.

The age was the biggest indicator. Rapunzel would be just a few months shy of her fourth birthday now, not still an infant. And this child had piercing blue eyes, and not the jade green ones forever fixated in his memory. The hair, as well, Rapunzel had golden hair that cascaded around her small body, while this child had hair the color of a dark midnight save one blue streak in his curls.

“Arianna…I –”

“Frederic, I can explain,” Arianna said, her feet clicking against the floor as she crossed over to him. “Two weeks after you left, Varian was left on the steps of the palace. He had nowhere else to go and he needed a family.”

“Varian?” Fredrick said. “Arianna, why didn’t you write to me? Let me know?”

“By time I wrote it and it arrived in Arendalle, you would have returned here to Corona,” said Arianna. “Besides, what could I have said? ‘Frederic, I’ve decided to adopt a –”

“Adopt?” Frederic asked. He shook his head and frowned at his wife. “Arianna, we can’t go around _adopting_ every orphan in Corona.”

It may make him seem heartless, but it was the truth. Adopting a child would create a huge shift in the political dynamics of their royal line – would the child have any right to the throne? Would it befall to someone else? And all royal business aside, by adopting one orphan they sent a message to their kingdom that this one child was more important than all the rest. What would they say to the young, hungry eyes they saw every day? This child was different and deserved our attention?

“Fred…” she murmured softly, hugging the child to her chest. “This is Quirin’s son. He asked us to take care of him.”

Frederic’s breath hitched. Quirin was their oldest friend and distant memories flooded his mind’s eye. Dark capes riding in the dead of night, the sound of swords clanging in the heat of battle, the sound of brotherly laughter from the adrenaline of a battle well-fought, and even tears over the pain and strife they shared. Both had feared the far off someday when that past came back to ruin their lives, but even as it approached they had pushed it off and said it wouldn’t be for several years.

But Varian’s appearance in his wife’s arms told him that Quirin’s ship had finally came in, and he had just managed to secure a life line for Varian before it swallowed the both of them whole.

“Arianna….it won’t replace the one we lost,” Frederic spoke in the gentlest voice he could manage. Arianna looked at him, aghast written across her features.

“I know he won’t,” Arianna said sternly. “But regardless if Rapunzel was still here or not, my position would be the same. Varian deserves a home and a family that loves him. Quirin and Maria are gone. We are all he has left.”

Frederic knew that there was no way he could convince Arianna to let the child go, and Frederic couldn’t really bring himself to try anyway. After everything he and Quirin had done, he supposed he owed it to him to look after his son.

Frederic sighed. “As a favor to Quirin…I suppose we can keep him.” Arianna smiled brightly, and Frederic raised a finger in warning. “But know that Varian will never truly be our son.”

“He already is!” Arianna said earnestly. “It’s only been a month, but I already know he’s going to fit right in here and he’s so beautiful –”

“No, Arianna.” Frederic crossed his arms stoically across his chest. “No matter how much we care for him or look after him, _they_ will eventually come for him. And there will be nothing we can do. I only hope you are prepared to lose him too.”

It was a low blow and he knew it. Bringing up Rapunzel was a line neither crossed, an unspoken amendment to their marriage vows. _Love, honor, cherish, never bring up the worst days of our lives._ But it was a necessary evil he had to say. Because losing Varian was a truth Arianna would have to face.

“Until then, he will be our son,” Arianna insisted. Arianna held out Varian too him, who was staring up at him with wide eyes as a small laugh escaped his little lips. Frederic shook his head at the invitation and took a step back.

Unlike Rapunzel, he would prepare himself for the loss.

“Excuse me,” Frederic said, turning away from them and towards the door. “I have some tax legislation to overlook.”

And then Frederic took his leave, in the distance leaving a small child and his wife, who watched with a sad smile as the light laugh of _her_ son rang in his ears.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case you can’t tell, not a huge fan of Frederic. He’ll get better in this fic – and hopefully in the show proper – but for now he’s just plain old Frederic.   
> Also, the name of this AU is the PrinceVarian!AU. If someone else is currently using this name, let me know so I can change it.   
> Thank you to everyone! I wasn’t expecting such a strong response to this story, especially since my writing is so dreadfully bad. You guys are the bee’s knees and thebomb.com all wrapped into one!


	3. Take My Hand

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Summary: Lantern Day has arrived and just like always, Mom is sad. Varian tried to make her feel better.

It was so strange. Mom always got so upset in the week leading up to Lantern Day.

This didn’t make any sense to Varian, since Mom liked all kinds of other pretty things like paintings, flowers, and books, so why wouldn’t she like the lanterns? They were by far some of the prettiest things in the whole entire kingdom, and yet every year Mom got really sad and barely looked at them.

Even Dad wasn’t the same around this time. He became more, well, _Dad_. Dad retreated into himself even more than usual, Varian never saw him on the week before Lantern Day. He was more like to see Mom around this time, but even then, it was sparse at best. Arianna set up shop in her room and didn’t come outside of it unless she was absolutely needed, which normally meant trips to Dad’s study where he always was.

What puzzled him most of all was that they didn’t want to talk about it. Dad would always gruffly respond that he wasn’t old enough to understand and Mom would get too sad, so Varian didn’t ask all that much anymore. The last thing he wanted was for Dad or Mom – especially Mom – to be upset.

And as Varian stared up at the door of his parent’s room, he was certain that his mom was just on the other side and that she was very, very upset. The four-year-old wanted to help her, but he knew the door would be locked as it always was when Arianna was really sad.

Varian frowned at the door handle as he thought over how to make her feel better. She always went out of her way to make _him_ feel better, so the least he could do was the same for her. The only problem was he couldn’t figure out _how_ to go about making Mom feel better.

He had thought about making Mom her favorite food, before remembering he wasn’t allowed to cook (he was only four after all) and he had no idea where the kitchen was in the first place – because come on, the castle was _huge,_ and he could hardly remember where his own room was half the time. He could go get Dad and ask him to talk to Mom, because he was the only one allowed in their room when she was like this, but he knew Dad _hated_ being interrupted around this time.

His mind cut to what Mom did when he was upset. She would sit with him and talk to him about what made him feel so bad – but that option was clearly out given that she was currently out-of-commission. She would walk with him and make him laugh, which once again was cut away by their circumstances. He furrowed his brow as he really thought over what he could do, before he remembered something he _could_ do.

He smiled wisely and rushed down the hallway, weaving through the halls and palace staff as he made his way towards the palace library. After one or two detours (once again, he was only four), he finally made his way into the large room lined with shelves.

It was personally his favorite room in the entire castle. It smelled old, but not in an off-putting way. It was that comforting way that dared you to draw closer and learn the secrets the room held. Not to mention the fact that there were so _many_ books in the space that Varian doubted that anyone would be able to read them all to completion. Even though he had just gained the ability to read, he enjoyed flying through the books on the shelves as fast he could. Especially the ones about science and the few that lingered on the idea of alchemy.

But that was beside the point right now.

He strode past the non-fiction shelves and towards the fiction section, the ones lined with tales of superhuman strength and magical endeavors. They were Mom’s favorites, she was always gently directing him towards the myths and fairytales she adored, before relenting and letting him read the scientific studies and inquiries he enjoyed. She had, however, drawn the line when he asked to read Sir Isaac Newton’s _Mathematica Principia,_ quickly saying it was a little above the head of a little boy – even if he was a smart four-year-old.

He scanned through the shelves but couldn’t find the book he was looking for. Copies of _Cinderella, Little Brother, Little Sister;_ even _The Red Shoes_ were easy to find, but a copy of Mom’s favorite seemed to be impossible to find. He frowned as he looked up towards the higher shelves, which were just out of reach and far enough away that he couldn’t read the spines.

Gosh, he hated being so short.

A metal clinking came from the doorway and he turned to see Cassandra in the doorway, making her way towards the non-fiction books, most likely the books on battle techniques as she pulled her dress up towards her mid-shin, so she could walk faster. Cassandra – at twelve years old – was old enough to be expected to wear dresses full time in the castle, a transition that she was taking none too kindly to. Before, she had previously gotten away with wearing an old tunic and pants with a sword strapped on her back and as daughter of Capitan of the Guard no one had really questioned it. Now that she older, however, it was something she could no longer do and be considered ‘proper’. She still hadn’t lost the sword, which was swung around her hip by a sheath.

“Cassie!” Varian shouted at her, waving at her excitedly. The twelve-year cringed at the sound and turned to face him, a forced smile gracing her lips.

“Prince Varian,” Cassandra greeted.

“What are you doing here?” Varian asked, hoping to make some conversation. He didn’t get to talk to Cassandra a lot – which was a shame, because she was so awesome and cool and –

“Getting a book,” she deadpanned. Varian – oblivious to her sarcastic nature – smiled even wider and rocked back and forth on his heels.

“Really? _Me too!”_ Varian squealed. Cassandra grit her teeth subtly at that young boy’s words, but Varian scarcely noted. “What book are you looking for?”

“ _Proper Sword Techniques for Advanced Students,”_ Cassandra said a bit smugly. That was one of the things he liked about her (not that he _liked_ her); she was well aware of her above-normal combat abilities and wasn’t afraid to show it. It reminded him a bit of the main character in the one fiction series he adored to pieces – _The Tales of Flynigan Ryder_. Both were strong and independent and everything he wanted to be.

But he would get back to that once he made Mom feel better.

“Really? That – that’s s _o_ cool!” Varian said. “I’m looking for _Sleeping Beauty–_ have you seen it?”

Cassandra raised an eyebrow at him. “I thought you weren’t a fairytales kind of guy, Your Highness.”

Varian shook his head. “I’m looking for it for Mom. She always gets so sad this time of year, so I was going to read it to make her feel better!”

Something dark shifted in the older girl’s expression and Varian felt even smaller than normal. Cassandra shifted uncomfortably on her feet and spared Varian a small frown. She opened her mouth to say something, before shutting it again with a shake of her head. Cassandra crossed over to the row of shelves he had been scanning before, a new serenity and calmness about her, and reached towards a shelf he couldn’t and pulled down a familiar puce book.

Varian smiled at the sight of the book and took it in his hands with a grateful smile. “T-thanks -thanks Cassie!”

She cringed again at the tail end of his comment, but Varian was zipping away with a hasty parting and a second thank you before he could notice. His return trip to his mother’s room had far less detours than his first, since he had first come from there after all. He was disappointed to see that it appeared no change had happened, and that Mom was still locked away in her room.

He frowned and then shook his head, plopping down next to the door. A few of the passing guards gave him cursory glances but didn’t bother him. He crossed his legs and shifted until he was comfortable on the hard palace floor, opening the book in his lap.

“ _Once upon a time, there was a magical kingdom, where a King and Queen ruled over the land justly…”_

Varian knew that the door would be locked if he tried to open it, so siting outside the door with the book was currently the only option available to him at the moment. He wasn’t all that sure if Mom could hear him, even though he was using his loudest voice before he started yelling, but still a try was better than no trying, right?

He hoped so.

^ **^** ^

Arianna wanted nothing more than to crawl in blankets and let them swallow her whole. Almost every other time of the year, she could force herself to function with the knowledge that her little girl was her _lost_ little girl. Ever since Varian had come into their lives, she had slowly managed to feel a bit better on normal days about it.

Having a child didn’t cancel out the pain of losing another but did make it easier to bear. It was strange almost, the wound left behind by Rapunzel hadn’t completely hadn’t healed, but instead scabbed over. The rush of emotion whenever she thought of the girl was still present, but it seemed to hurt a little less. Varian had become her son and her days were now spent making sure he got everything he couldn’t from.

What a strange concoction they were. She was a parent with no child and him a child with no parent. She had to keep on being a mother even though her child was gone, and he was still a child in need of guidance regardless of if his father and mother was gone. Arianna had to fill that role for him, and though he would never be the daughter she lost, he had become the son she never knew she needed.

Most days, his laugh, his smile, even his cry could pull her out of the daze Rapunzel could pull her into. An especially bad nightmare of that night? A good morning hug from Varian normally made her feel at least okay. She passed by the memorial to Rapunzel? Varian quickly lead her away towards one of the nearby shops with a gentle squeeze of his hand.

But during this week? It was near impossible to feel she would be whole ever again. How could the world spin and love and laugh and continue even though the anniversary of the worst day of her life was quickly approaching. Nothing and no one could make her feel better, at least nothing they had tried so far. Not even Frederic’s appearance could make her feel that complete – on the actual anniversary it was an unspoken rule they would be inseparable. But on the days leading up to it? Near impossible to look him in the eye.

Arianna curled the blanket tighter around herself as she sat in one of the chairs by the large windows. She had retreated to this position the second she woken up, only making the motion to lock the door. Being Queen could wait for a few days – right now she needed to be Arianna a bit more than Corona needed to their Queen.

Tomorrow was the day she lost everything. For just a few fleeting moments, she felt that for once she could let the waves of loss overtake her. She would rise over them in due time, but for right now she felt content to let them fall over her.

It hurt and made her feel like the dirt beneath her – worse even. The dirt did its job, while she couldn’t even do her job as a mother. She failed. It was that simple and nothing could ever be done, because it was over and done and the only way things could be better was as if Rapunzel were to be found, and the current facts of this case left her with no clue as to where she could be.

_“Once upon a time, there was a magical kingdom, where a King and Queen ruled over the land justly…”_

Arianna snapped towards the door at the sound. She could have sworn it was _Varian._

_“…and in this land lived all kinds of ma-magical creatures …”_

It was unmistakable, even though it was muffled. The soft, sweet voice of her son wafting through the doors toward her, reading a story she loved so much. It was calming in a way, as if the story was wrapping a second blanket around her, designed to make her feel better.

“… _One day, the King and Queen gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, and they invited creatures to her christening, expect one wicked creature: The Evil Fairy….”_

Arianna sat and listened as his voice drawled on and felt a small warm glow grow in the scabbed over hole. Once again, not something to replace it, but something to make it easier for her to bear.

The story continued as Arianna stared at the door. Varian’s voice was so gentle as he called out the fairytale to her – her very favorite, and she had no doubt that Varian remembered that. His voice faltered every once in a while, when he came across a new word he had never seen before, which was quite a small amount if one where to remember he was so young.

As the story neared its conclusion, she finally stood, letting the blanket fall onto the ground in a wave. She crossed the room steadily and reached for the doorknob, but her resolve hesitated for just a moment. Varian’s story was helping, that much was evident, but was she really sure she could face the world today? That she could face Varian today?

“…. _and so, Sleeping Beauty returned home to be with her family. She was now free to live her life as she chose, and grew to be a princess that the kingdom adored. The end.”_

A sudden burst of love and appreciation for her son forced the door open with a harsh swing.

“ _Mommy!”_

Arianna felt a harsh pressure around her legs, and she looked down to see Varian hugging the end of her purple dress with a smile. His elated face was impossible to mistake – his smile was so wide it forced his eyes shut. Arianna smiled warmly at him and reached down to affectionally pat his head.

“Good morning Varian,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper. He squeezed her even tighter, but now his eyes were open wide as he looked up at her with the most jubilant expression.

“You-you’re outside!” Varian said. “I-I thought you’d be too sad to come outside today!”

Arianna felt her heart sink just a little at his words. She hadn’t meant to make her son so used to her being not around this time of year – but then again, she supposed that came with the territory of unbridled grief, no matter how brief it was.

“I was just feeling a little upset,” Arianna forced herself to say.

“I don’t understand. Why are you always so sad before Lantern Day?” Varian asked.

Arianna’s brow furrowed at her son, feeling as though she was at a crossroads. Varian of course knew that Corona once had a princess – a Lost Princess – and that every year they lifted lanterns in the air. But Arianna had presented the two ideas at separate, given his age and that he hadn’t quite grasped for himself the two things were related.

Would he understand what Rapunzel was? What her loss meant to her, to Frederic? That she was the lost princess? That by all accounts, she was Varian’s older sister, one he never got a chance to know? Could she expect that of him, no matter how smart he was?

She reached down to him and took him gently in her arms. He was getting bigger now, so it was a bit harder to maneuver holding him effectively, but he wasn’t so large that it was a burden on her upper body. She needed to hold Varian right now, it was the only way she would get through this. His arms slipped around her neck at a side-ways angle like second nature and she shifted her weight onto the opposite of the one holding Varian.

Arianna made her way towards the end of the hallway, where the one portrait commissioned before Rapunzel’s disappearance rested. A painter had been hired to sketch them and after the unfortunate events, he had still finished the portrait and delivered it to them. They had immedailty hung it as a personal memorial to Rapunzel, so when they hit rock bottom they could look at the fact of their little girl and be reminded they still had so much to do.

“Varian….do you know who this is?” Arianna asked gently, gesturing to the emerald eyed girl in the paining. Varian frowned at the portrait as he thought.

“The Lost Princess,” he said after a moment. Arianna nodded.

“Yes, Varian,” she said. “And you know that she was from Corona, right?” Varian nodded up at her. “Well, if I’m the Queen, and your father is the King, that would make the that Lost Princess our daughter.”

Varian’s eyes widened to the size of saucers and turned towards the paining and then back at Arianna for a moment, testing how much they looked like.

“Do you know what happened to her?” he asked innocently.

“N-no,” she said, aware of the crack in her voice. “That’s why she’s the Lost Princess.” Arianna sighed and leaned her head down atop Varian’s hair. “Eight years ago, she was taken away from us. And every year, we lift lanterns into the sky to remember her by and so that she can find her way back home.”

“Is that why you’re sad, Mommy?” he asked. “Because you’re remembering her?”

“Yes, sweetie,” she murmured, doing just that. A moment of silence enveloped them, before Varian finally broke it with a confused look.

“What’s her name?”

“Rapunzel….”

“Do you ever think Rapunzel will come back?” Varian asked. Arianna felt a fragment of a smile cover her face.

“We hope she will one day,” Arianna answered. Varian screwed his face up into one of contemplation and turned back towards the painting. He removed one hand from around her neck and reached towards the painting, his small fingers ghosting over the face of the infant Rapunzel.

“Mommy?” he asked.

“Yes?”

“If…. Rapunzel is the _princess_ and I’m the _prince_ …. does that make Ra-Rapunzel my-my sister?” Varian asked. Arianna smiled a little as she thought over how to respond.

“Yes-yes, I guess so,” Arianna said. All those years ago, Arianna had claimed that even if Rapunzel was still here, she would have taken Varian in anyway. What would life had been like, if she had both of her children? Would Rapunzel and Varian been like her and Willow – quietly resenting each other under all the love they shared, or would they have been close friends? She guessed all that depended on what Rapunzel was like – a road was she had been down far too many times.

“We don’t look a lot alike,” Varian said. Arianna’s heart clinched at his words.

“Not all family look alike, Varian,” Arianna said quickly. “You don’t look like me, but I’m also your mother and you don’t look like Dad, but you’re still his son. Rapunzel may look like us, but that doesn’t make her anymore our child than you.” She turned towards where the book was still sitting in the hallway and set Varian back down on the ground, before rounding to the book and handing it to her son.

“Now, come on,” she said, motioning with her head down the hall. “We have a book to return to the library.” Varian took the book in one hand, and then looked up at her with a raised eyebrow.

“Varian, what is it?” she asked.

“Mom, you’re – you’re still in your night clothes,” Varian said simply.  Arianna looked down to see herself in her lilac nightgown and smiled, grasping Varian’s free hand and leading him away.

“One of the perks of being Queen, Varian, is that no one questions what you wear, any time of day,” Arianna humored, winking at her son. Varian giggled and hugged the book close to his chest, and Arianna found it quite amusing the book seemed to stretch farther across than his shoulder length – all things considered, he was a very petite child.

“Well, either way, you look really pretty Mommy,” Varian said, probably assuring her that he didn’t mean anything by his early comment. Arianna reached down to ruffle his hair, which he reacted to with an excited laugh.

“Thank you, bluebird,” she said appreciatively. Varian beamed at the term of endearment and Arianna felt secure in the fact that she made the right decision leaving her room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just imagine Arianna giving Varian an affection nickname, okay? Bluebird was chosen because of his blue streak, and he’s small – so “bluebird” and variants of.  
> And we’ve officially met Cassandra! Cassandra is around twelve years old, so she’s eight years older than Varian. I’ve always thought Cassandra was slightly older than Rapunzel and nothing seems to have contradicted it, so I’ve always just thought Eugene was twenty-five, Cassandra was twenty-two, Rapunzel was eighteen, and then Varian was fourteen. That’s the timeline for this fic anyway.  
> This is a day early, because I might not be able to update next week. Sunday is my update day (because that’s when I have access to internet), but next week it also doubles as Mother’s Day, so I’m probably going to be spending the whole day with her. It’s possible a chapter may be out, but for right now, it seems that this will be the last one for two weeks instead of one. Sorry : (  
> \- Princess Chess


	4. I Will Not Let Myself

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Summary: Some time with Dad reveals to be something Varian didn't expect.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is early in celebration of me finishing exams. Fingers crossed I passed, and I hope you enjoy!

 “Then you have your math lessons, your history lessons, and then you have to rush – and I mean _rush_ – to your music lessons _….”_ Nigel droned on, Varian barely paying attention. Varian poked at the eggs on his plate as the advisor continued on with the various things Varian had to do that day.

Nigel greeted the royal family everyday with a barrage of things they needed to do that day over breakfast, which Varian always found to be a _dreadful_ way to start the day. The six-year-old had much better things to do that listen to Nigel go on about things that he actually had very interest in doing anyways.

“When do I have my science lessons?” Varian cut in, looking up from his breakfast hopefully. Nigel blinked in surprise at the interruption before rustling through his list of notes to supply him with an answer.

“Oh, um…. I’m sorry, Your Highness, but it appears that you don’t have science lessons all week,” Nigel said. Varian shot straight up in his chair at this, dropping his spoon onto the table in shock.

“ _What?!”_ Varian nearly shrieked.

“Varian,” Mom warned gently, taking a bite of her oatmeal, “use your inside voice at the table.”

“Wh-wh-why- _why_?” Varian asked, this time his tone more suitable for the table setting. Nigel lifted out a sheet of paper and handed it across the table to Mom, who took in her own hands with a critical eye.

“It appears your science tutor is currently visiting family for the week in preparation for her sister’s wedding,” Nigel explained. Mom read over the paper and nodded, placing it down beside her with a gentle smile.

“That’s splendid to hear,” Mom said, and it was easy to see that she really meant it. She put a hand on Dad’s forearm, who was currently multi-tasking breakfast with dozing off and reading over newest crop reports. “We must tell her to send on our congratulations when Madame Tano returns.”

“What?” Dad asked, looking up from his papers with a glazed over expression.

“Madame Tano’s sister is getting married,” Mom said to him. Dad nodded his head and returned back to his papers.

“Oh, um, that’s wonderful,” Dad said off-handily, and Varian was pretty sure that Dad had already forgotten. Not that that was a bad thing pre-say – Varian knew Dad worked really hard to be the best King he could be, and sometimes that meant being a little distant or forgetting certain things. Or that’s what Varian told himself.

“So, I-I _really_ don’t have _any_ science lessons all week?” Varian asked. Nigel nodded once and cast him a sympathetic look.

“It appears not,” Nigel said. “I really am sorry, Your Highness.” Varian’s love of science – especially geology and alchemy – was no secret. He loved sharing what he learned of science and looked forward to the daily hour he had spent dedicated to the endeavor of learning of more – even if for the most part he learned what he knew on his own and the lesson was more formality at this point.

“Whatever,” Varian shrugged off, slumping back down in his seat.

“On the bright side, that gives an extra hour for your music lessons, so that means you won’t to have rush through your scales,” Nigel offered hopefully. Varian – who found his overly structured music class to be _beyond_ boring – didn’t find that news all that bright, and so resigned himself to he fact that this entire week was going to be a bust.

“Great,” he muttered to himself, reaching to retrieve his spoon. Mom frowned at him, but then her face lit up in excitement.

“If I remember correctly, the hour for your science lessons happens to coincide when me and your father allow audiences,” Mom sad cheerfully. “I can’t attend this week because me and Nigel have to refine the trade agreement for when the Enchancia delegation arrives next week. I was thinking that maybe you could attend with your father.”

Now this got Dad’s attention. He shot up in his chair and looked at Mom, a bit of incredulity in his eyes.

“Arianna, I don’t really think Varian is ready to attend court quite yet,” he said simply. Varian frowned and furrowed his brow, ignoring the hit to his confidence. The idea of spending a whole hour with Dad was a truly exciting prospect – him and Dad hardly ever got to spend time together. And now a whole hour of nothing but spending time with him? Plus, he got to see his Dad in action, doing his kingly thing? That sounded so amazing of a way to spend his open hour this week.

“Nonsense,” Mom waved off with a flick of her hand. “I’m sure he’s old enough.”

“He’s only _six years old_ , _”_ Dad argued. Mom rolled her eyes and took a bite of her food.

“I’m not suggesting he make decisions,” Mom said. “Only that it would do him good to see what the job entails.” Something passed in Dad’s eyes at that last comment. Varian – who wasn’t enjoying his parents talking about him right in front of his face – leaned forward with a frown and looked at his father sadly.

“Dad, if you don’t want me to go, I won’t,” Varian said softly. Mom looked at him, aghast, and turned towards Dad with an expectant look. Dad sighed and turned back towards Varian.

“It’s not that I don’t want you to go, Varian,” Dad said earnestly. “I’m just not sure you’re ready. Court can be…. overwhelming, even for the most experienced of royals and statespersons.”

“I’ll quiet, promise!” Varian assured. “I’ll just watch silently – and, and I won’t be any trouble at all, honest!” Varian smiled as connivingly as he could and crossed his heart. “Cross my heart!”

Dad cut a glance to Mom, who only refuted with a raised eyebrow, as if daring him to say no. Dad finally relented with a sigh.

“Alright, Varian, you can attend.”

“Yah!” Varian shouted, raising his fists in the air in celebration.

“ _But,”_ Dad said, “you have to promise me that you won’t try to interject into any decisions I make and that when it’s time for your next lesson to start you will excuse yourself.”

“Yes, sir!” Varian said, still giddy with excitement. Dad seemed to be less excited than him about the ordeal, but Varian didn’t really care. He got the spend a whole hour with his dad and got out of music lessons!

This was shaping up to be an okay week.

^ **^** ^

“Okay, Dad, what do I need to do?” Varian asked later that day, sitting in the small throne reserved for him and his crown haphazardly thrown on his head. Dad’s face somehow had a cross between a frown and a smile as he looked over at him.

“As we discussed earlier,” Dad began, “this is merely a chance for you to see what being King will one day entail. All I need for you to do is observe what I do and take note so that you may one day make these decisions. Only speak when spoken too.”

Varian nodded once in understanding before a thought occurred to him. “What if someone _wants_ to speak with me?”

For the barest moment, a ghost of a smile crossed Dad’s face. “Well, then you can go ahead.”

Varian smiled and clapped his hands together excitedly. Dad gave something that sounded almost like a laugh and turned towards to wear Nigel stood nearby. Nigel nodded in understanding and looked at the guards stationed by the oak doors currently closed at the other side of the expansive throne room. The doors opened and in flooded a large sea of Corona citizens in a hap-hazard line, which forced his eyes to widen in surprise. How could so many people fit in this one room?!

“ _So…. many…. people,”_ he whispered under his breath, his voice half nerves and half amazement. Dad rolled his eyes good-naturedly as the first subjects stepped forward.

It was two people – one an elderly man with wobbly knees and a hand-whittled cane, another a teen boy with red hair to his ears and a green apron. The younger boy seemed a bit on edge being here, but his elderly companion seemed much more comfortable in front of Dad, if his warm smile and relaxed posture was anything to go by.

“Your Majesty,” began the elderly man in a kind voice, “My name is Daniel, and me and my grandson Felspar have come seeking your guidance.”

Dad nodded once and leaned forward, which Varian noted almost made him seem approachable as he sat regally in his throne with his imposing gold crown. Was that something he was supposed to do to? He shifted some so he was leaning too, which earned him a strange look from Nigel. Varian blushed and leaned back in his chair, quickly discovering perhaps it wasn’t what he was supposed to do, which earned him an affectionate eye-roll from Nigel.

“Well, Daniel, please tell me: what is troubling you so?” Dad asked in the voice Varian could only describe as his “King Voice”.

“Well, you see, though it might be a bit rude to say in pleasant company, I think I might be on the other side of the ground in a few short months,” the elderly man said with a bit of a laugh. Varian raised an eyebrow – what did that even mean?

“ _Grandpa_ –” Felspar started, only to be swiftly cut off by his grandfather.

“It’s the truth, Felspar, might as well accept it.” Daniel’s attention returned to Dad. “In my will, I previously left my cobbler shop to my daughter, Darlene, but you see, I unfortunately have outlived her as well as her husband George. I’ve raised Felspar ever since he was seven years old and he is the only person I trust enough with my business.”

“I am sorry to hear of your declining health,” Dad said. “I am also sorrowful for the fate for your child and her spouse, I know losing a loved one is a traumatizing experience.” A storm passed in Dad’s eyes. “But I, unfortunately, do not understand why you have come to speak with me today. Can you not simply change your will to allow Felspar the rights to your business?”

“Your Majesty, Felspar is only fifteen years old,” Daniel said. Varian didn’t see what a difference this made – fifteen was old enough to do responsible things. But it seemed to strike something in Dad, who nodded solemnly for a few moments before his shone with realization.

“Your grandson can have ownership of the shop at his current age, if someone of legal age is willing to co-partner with him until such time he reaches legal age. At which time he reaches legal age, discussions can be made with the senior partner for a possible agreement,” Dad said. “If you can bring someone within the next two weeks deemed suitable for an audience, he or she can be named the new legal senior partner, if no one is found within that time, the palace will assign one. Does that seem fair?”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” Daniel said thankfully. He bowed his head down respectfully and ushered Felspar off to the side, who gave a small bow in turn as well. Varian raised an eyebrow and leaned over towards Dad.

“What couldn’t he just be in charge of the store, Dad?” Varian whispered to him. Dad motioned to where Felspar was disappearing behind the side door and leaned closer to Varian.

“Here in Corona, you have to be eighteen to own a store and do many other things,” Dad explained. “Felspar wouldn’t be hold enough to take care of his grandfather’s cobbler business if Daniel were to die soon.”

“That man is _dying?”_ Varian said, a bit aghast. Dad nodded solemnly. “Well-well, we-we have to do something! Can’t-can’t we help him?”

“Daniel is very old, Varian,” Dad said gently. “Even if we were to help him with whatever ailment he implied was disrupting him, it would only be matter of time before he was to fall sick again. There isn’t much we can do. All we can do is help him carry out his final wishes.” Varian frowned and looked over at the door the duo had passed through silently for a moment.

“We-we _really_ can’t do a _nything?_ ” Varian asked in a soft voice. Dad sighed and kindly reaching over to put a hand on his shoulder comfortingly.

“I’m sorry,” was all Dad said. Varian looked down at his hands sadly. Was this part of the job – of being royal? Watching dying men and women come forward and not being to able? How did Mom and Dad do that?

“Are you sure you want to continue?” Dad asked. Varian looked up at him in contemplation as Nigel stepped forward, in case he needed to escort Varian out.

_Did_ he want to do this? His first thought was no – after all, that man had just walked through here with a dying wish and all they could do was grant it to him, they couldn’t stop him from him dying. If they couldn’t do that, why were they even here? And more importantly, how many times had Mom and Dad being resigned to granting final requests, unable to help those who asked?

But as he watched Dad watch him, he knew he couldn’t leave. Varian wasn’t a typical prince, he did lots of things wrong and he knew deep down that was why Dad kept his distance, not just because he had a job to do. He _couldn’t_ mess this up, he just _couldn’t._

Varian straightened his posture, fixing his face to be as calm as he could manage.

“Ye-yes,” Varian said, against his better judgement. Frederic gave a minuscule nod and motioned for the next person to step forward, and began speaking to them, but all Varian could think about was Daniel and how helpless he was to stop him from dying.

Wrapped in his thoughts, he was surprised when an hour went by and he found himself escorted by Nigel to the music room. It seemed for an entire hour people had come forward with a problem and Dad hadn’t been able to do anything of substance, not really.

Varian shook his head to clear them away and proceeded forward, for once ready for a music lesson.

^ **^** ^

Varian had done decidedly well. At least, better than Frederic had expected.

The first time he had been exposed to taking audiences had been an overwhelming adventure, to put it mildly. He had seemed shaken after speaking with Daniel and Felspar and he would admit that he was a bit proud of him for staying through the whole hour. He was a grown adult and a King, and even he had felt a bit sorrowful to see Daniel like that. He had never been friends or even acquaintances with the man, but as King one comes to recognize the familiar faces of their people. He made a note to keep an eye on Felspar when Daniel was gone.

Still, Varian’s composure was something that Frederic couldn’t help but note of it. Varian was by no stretch of the imagination the most royal-like prince, and Frederic had been worried that that would shine through. And it hadn’t, so thank their lucky stars.

But for now, Frederic was keeping his eye on Varian as the little boy poked at his food. Dinner tonight turned out to be a quiet affair. Arianna had excused herself for bed early, so Frederic and Varian had been left to eat alone.

Silence had quickly overtaken themselves, as it did most of the time when the two were left alone. Frederic knew his hand was mostly to blame in that regards – in the attempt to keep himself distant from the boy in front of him, it had also cost him the chance to truly know enough about him to speak with him.

After spending six years as the parent of him, Frederic couldn’t claim to not love Varian. Despite wanting to prepare himself for the truth – that one day, The Protectors would come to their door demanding him – Varian had somehow become his son, just like Arianna had wanted. That didn’t stop him from wanting the pain to not hurt, didn’t stop the truth from being forgotten, but yes, he did love his son.

“How were your lessons, Varian?” Frederic asked once the silence became too much. Varian looked up at him in surprise and he hated how awed his eyes was. Was it really so striking that Frederic would speak to him?

“They-they were good,” Varian said after a moment, his voice low. Frederic nodded in acknowledgment and silence overtook them again. Frederic took a sip of his drink to distract himself but kept a critical eye on his son. Varian returned to slowly eating his food before he looked up at him.

“Dad, I’m not really hungry. Is it alright if I go ahead and go to my room?” Varian asked. Frederic felt his heart sink but couldn’t blame Varian for his request. It was tense and quiet, and Frederic knew that it was his doing, so he couldn’t deny him a chance to escape it.

Frederic sighed deeply and nodded. “Yes, Varian, you can go ahead.”

Varian rose to stand and walked over to the doorway but halted just before he opened them. His had rested on the doorknob for a single moment and Frederic raised an eyebrow.

“Varian?”

Varian turned to face him, an unsure frown present as he fiddled with his fingers nervously. He opened his mouth to speak before shutting it again. It was obvious Varian wished to ask him something but couldn’t quite seem to get the words out.

“Yes, Varian? What is it?” Frederic asked, making a motion to stand.

“Is-is that what it’s like?” Varian asked quietly.

“What’s always like that?” Frederic said and walked over to him. He placed a hand on his shoulder comfortingly, and given how much larger his hand was, made it look like it was swallowing his shoulder whole.

“Being—being King! And royal!” Varian said. Frederic blinked in surprise. “Do-do people always come to you, asking for things you can’t give even though you can’t always give them it?”

Frederic hadn’t been naive enough to believe that Varian wouldn’t have questions, but he had hoped that when Varian asked them he would have the answers. Or at least, answers that he would understand.

Frederic sighed and leaned down to look him in the eye, giving him what he hoped was a comforting smile. “I’m sorry, Varian, but yes.”

Varian’s expression was heartbroken at the explanation, but Frederic didn’t know what else to say. Should he have lied to the boy, given him false hope that the royal life wasn’t a hard one? But what good would that do – they’re was the slim chance Varian would be here long enough before The Protectors found him that he would have to rule. He would have to know the rules.

“But-but h- _how_?!” Though the question was worded simply, Frederic knew what he meant. How did he do this? How did he live with it?

“It’s part of being royal, son,” Frederic said. “It’s part of being a wise ruler.” Varian’s eyes threatened to spill over into tears and Frederic reached out to embrace him, to do something, _anything_ , but Varian instead broke away from him and went rushing out of the room, soon enough nothing more than a small dot of color running away from him.

Frederic knew he would run after him, talk with him some more, make him feel better, but instead he just felt rooted to his spot. Arianna was an expert at Varian, always knew the right things to say and do, and instead he was the one grasping at straws, just trying to understand how to speak with him. How could he comfort Varian? He hardly knew how to make small talk with him.

Frederic felt helpless over again, because he was losing this child too. And it was his fault.

^ **^** ^

Varian didn’t want to be a prince anymore. He had never been particularly sure he wanted to be one in the first place – it always had duties that got in the way of things he wanted to do. But now, now that he knew what it really entailed, he was sure that he wanted to be just Varian and not Prince Varian.

His pillow was damp beneath him as he cried, the only one who knew what he was feeling. He was sure Dad knew he was upset – after all he was the one who witnessed the first steps of him falling apart – but he was fairly certain that Dad wasn’t coming after him. Dad wasn’t the type of person to comfort people, or at least Varian hadn’t seen him do it for anyone else that wasn’t Mom.

Varian rolled over on his bed, his day clothes all rumpled. He had quickly forbidden anyone from talking to him – all he wanted was to be alone. No one would get what it was he was feeling, the only two who did he especially didn’t want to see. Dad wouldn’t get it – he never got anything. And Mom…. she couldn’t see him like this, he wouldn’t let her.

He cast his eyes over to the table he had quickly thrown his crown after the audiences and felt a rotten pit grow in his stomach. In this moment, he hated that stupid that – he _hated_ it. With that one crummy piece of metal on his head he suddenly became important. Became the person who had to turn away people in need, turn away people he couldn’t help no matter how much he wanted too, became the person who had to know how much the people – his people – were suffering and knew that he was powerless.

Dad has said that came with the territory, that it was part of being a wise monarch, but Varian couldn’t help but wonder _how_ they could live with that. How _Mom_ – the sweetest, kindest, best person in the whole world – could live with that truth?

The crown shown silver as the moonlight cut across from the window and Varian stared at what felt like hours before he finally stood and walked over to it. He picked it up in his hand and stared at it, his mind whirling around and around.

Why him? Why had he been the one given this life? Why hadn’t he been born a pauper, a farmer, anybody who didn’t have to be a prince? Why was it him that was here?

_Why?_

He couldn’t help but wonder about Rapunzel, something he actually did a lot since the day Mom told him about her. Would Rapunzel had reacted so strongly, like he had? Or would she have accepted this role with seemingly little argument, like Mom and Dad seemed to? Thoughts of what his big sister would have been like seemed to follow him everywhere. He knew it did him no good, but wonder he did anyway…

He looked back towards the moon hung in the sky, crown still resting in his hand. From now on, he would be a different kind of prince, he swore. Do anything and everything he could to make life best for his people – he wouldn’t turn away anyone, that was a promise.

And he would keep that promise if it killed him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah. Frederic, even when you try it just ain’t working. This was establishing Varian’s relationship with Frederic – Varian loves his father and Frederic loves him, but Frederic isn’t all that warm and wants to shield from the day Varian may be taken away. As welcoming and warm Arianna’s relationship with Varian is, Frederic and his is just as tense and distant.  
> Also, The Protectors! That’s what I’m calling my version of whatever it was Quirin very obviously belonged to, and we’ll be getting more about them later and why they possibly may be after Varian.   
> Varian got really introspective there – not like most six-year-olds, but most six-year olds ain’t royalty. I was going to cut off with Frederic, but I knew that I had to keep going so Varian would have some resolution from the emotional conflict I set up this chapter.  
> Also, about 99.8% sure I misspelled Felspar's name.   
> \-- Princess Chess


	5. Satisfied

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Summary: Cassandra gets a crush, but it looks like he doesn’t feel the same. Varian wants to help her, but what can he really do?

Cassandra was not the biggest fan of Prince Varian, she would be the first to tell you.

She didn’t find him to be a bad person – for the most part she found him to be a kind and sweet kid. No, what bothered her the most was that he was very obviously crushing on her (big-time), and so whenever she found her way into his company he dissolved into a stuttering mess of insecurity and sometimes, she just didn’t have the time for it.

She was fifteen for goodness sake. She had her own crushes and hopes and dreams without having to worry if the prince was going to fall apart if he saw her.

He seemed oblivious to this however, because every sarcastic or dismissive remark was quickly met with a kind word, or even an apology for disrupting her. Which, of course, made _her_ feel bad because she wasn’t out to hurt his feelings (really), it’s just sometimes she wanted to be alone.

Like at training. Like she was right now.

Cassandra dodged the sword thrust at her by one of the junior members of the guard – Stan – and raised her own to block a second strike, her feet placed apart evenly on the grass beneath her. She stepped to the left, as if she was going to swing from that direction, and the young man made move to follow her, but she quickly moved right with a smirk.

It seemed that she hadn’t been fast enough, however, because the man managed to barely deflect her shot, their blades meeting in a small shower of sparks. She frowned and stepped back, her brows furrowing as she assed her opponent.

He was exceptionally observant, that much was obvious, and well-built too. He was tall and stocky, and the way he gripped his sword altered that he was no stranger to this type of combat. She looked over his frame and found that he was leaning unnaturally more towards his dominant side. Curious, most swordsman learned early on to balance their weight, which immedailty told Cassandra that this was a little suspect.

It could just be a trick to throw her off, but then again, the Corona guard was not exactly known for their cunning and manipulation. The sparest of white could be seen sticking up out of his boot; had Stan been injured recently?

Cassandra smirked and pretended to thrust forward, only to turn on her heel at the last second and miss his sword by an inch. She swung across to hit his sword again harshly, an action he met with almost equal force and a frown. Cassandra took a step back suddenly, surprising Stan and causing to scuttle a few steps backwards, unbalanced.

Before he could completely recover, she crouched down and stuck out her leg, swinging it across to Stan’s non-dominant side. His legs quickly capsized beneath him at the motion and he fell backwards onto the training field with a thud.

Cassandra smiled to herself and stalked forward, kicking the sword in his hand out of his reach and leveling his sword towards his armored chest.

“Gotcha Tiger,” Cassandra said with a smile and a laugh. Stan frowned as Cassandra removed her sword and helped him up.

“No fair, Cassandra, I was injured, and you took advantage of that,” Stan accused, crossing his arms stubbornly. Cassandra rolled her eyes and sheathed her sword back onto her hip.

“Just like when I twisted my wrist and you _totally_ didn’t take advantage of that,” Cassandra teased.

“Well –I, uh, well –” Stan began to stutter out and Cassandra punched his arm playfully.

“Hypocrites don’t prosper,” Cassandra said in a sing-song voice, earning a laugh from her friend. Stan looked like he was about to say something else, but what it ever it was will remain unknown because he was cut off by an excitable voice.

“ _That was so_ cool!” a voice squealed, and Cassandra felt her heart drop to her stomach. Cassandra turned to see Prince Varian rushing from where he had presumably been standing off to the side, an impressed smile nearly covering his entire face.

“Oh, um, thank you, Your Highness,” Stan fumbled to say, but Cassandra’s response was instead a confrontational crossing of her arms.

“Especially you Cassie!” Varian said, landing directly in front of them. He cringed and turned to face Stan. “Not – not that you weren’t-weren’t cool either, Stan!”

Stan laughed off his comment and placed a hand on Varian’s shoulder. “No worries, Your Highness. Cassandra is pretty awesome.”

Of its own accord, heat rose to her cheeks and she started to blush. She smiled and looked away from Stan and Varian, hoping that Stan didn’t catch her blush.

“You-you don’t, uh, don’t have to lie to him, Stan,” Cassandra said humbly. Stan rolled his eyes at her.

“It’s not a lie,” Stan insisted and then looked to Varian with a smile. “Cass could be on the guard right now if she wasn’t fifteen!”

“ _Or I wasn’t the Capitan’s daughter,_ ” Cassandra thought a bit bitterly.

“Really?” Varian said. He looked up at her, awestruck, which Cassandra knew what Stan was saying would bite her later, because it would only add fires to the flames regarding his crush on her. But still…. Stan complementing her wasn’t _that_ bad, all things considered.

“Oh, yeah!” Stan continued. “She’s beaten me and Pete at least fifteen times apiece this week alone in every sparring match we’ve had.”

Cassandra was pretty sure she was beet red at this point and a fluttering feeling was definitely rising up in her stomach. Oh, God, what was wrong with her? She was _not_ some kind of fool that fell apart because someone was complementing her!

Speaking of which….

“So, um, Your Highness,” Cassandra quickly coughed out, “What-what are you doing here? Don’t you have some kind of lesson or something?”

Varian looked rather nervous at the question and he began rubbing his hands a bit anxiously. He looked over his shoulder to see if someone was coming, before turning back around to them.

“Your Highness, is something wrong?” Stan asked, concerned by his sudden shift in behavior. Varian quickly shook his head no.

“No-uh-no, actually, well, not yet,” Varian said. Cassandra raised an eyebrow.

“Yet?” Cassandra asked.

“Well-you see, it turns out that when you put salt and baking soda together in vinegar inside a compressed container – the salt, uh, the salt _doesn’t_ cancel out the baking soda,” Varian chuckled a bit and rubbed the back of his neck, “and, uh, I _may_ have caused a _small_ – like _teeny-tiny_ – explosion.”

“Again?” Cassandra said in exasperation.

“I already cleaned it up, promise!” Varian held up three fingers as a testament to his honesty. “It was just a couple of beakers and glass – which I put away and swept up!”

Cassandra sighed. “Okay, well, as interesting as this is, what does this have to do with us?”

“Well, uh…” Varian looked uncomfortable for a moment. Stan laughed and put a hand on his hip.

“If someone finds out about it and wants to know where you were when the explosion happened, you want us to say you’ve been watching us the whole time?” Stan supplied with a smile. Varian smiled sheepishly at him and scrapped his foot across the grass.

Cassandra opened her mouth to say no, just as Stan said, “Sure, Your Highness.”

“ _Really_?” Varian and Cassandra asked, equally surprised.

Stan smiled brilliantly. “Well, of course. I mean, everyone messes up. No one got hurt, right?” Varian shook his head. “Well, if you’ve already taken care of it, I don’t see why there’s any reason to talk about it.”

“Oh, _thank you, thank you, thank you!”_ Varian said in appreciation, flinging an embrace onto Stan. Stan chuckled and gave a small one in return. Cassandra smiled at the sight. No matter how irritating her prince could be at times, she had to admit every once in a while, his actions were just infectious.

“Okay, okay, as touching as this is,” Cassandra eventually butted in, “we have to get back to practice.” Stan rolled his eyes and stepped back over to her.

“Alright, alright, Miss Workaholic,” Stan chided. He turned back to Varian. “You can actually stay if you want, Your Highness, we don’t mind an audience.”

Cassandra could see the contemplation in Varian’s eyes, before he eventually relented and stepped back towards where the official palace grounds began.

“I’d love to,” Varian said regretfully. “But I really do have to go to my music lessons, Mom and Dad will get suspicious if they hear I’m late.” A small smile shone in his eyes. “Well, _later_ than usual.” He raised a hand to wave at the two of them as he left. “Bye Stan! Bye Cassie!”

“It’s _Cass_!” Cassandra called after him, but she knew it won’t do no good. She sighed and brushed some of her hair out of her eyes. “Well, _that_ wasn’t distracting at all.”

Stan pushed her shoulder playfully. “Come on, Cass, he’s only seven years old. He just gets excited easily. What’s the harm?”

“Easy for you to say,” Cassandra shot back. “He isn’t crushing on you!”

Stan laughed heartily. “No, I guess you’re right! But you should be flattered – I mean, a prince has a crush on you! How many people can say _that_?”

Cassandra stuck out her tongue. “But he’s s _even_!”

“It’s a cute little crush, Cass,” Stan said. “I’m sure he’ll grow out of it once he meets a girl his own age.”

Stan reached and pulled out his sword, positioning himself in a common sword-fighting stance. “Now, come on, rematch!”

Cassandra shook her head good-naturedly and pulled out her own weapon. “Oh, you’re so on.”

They once again began with clanks of metal, and Cassandra had a feeling the pit of nerves in her stomach from Stan’s smile had little to do with the anxiety of battle.

^ **^** ^

Two months passed, and no one asked about the explosion, which Varian was really grateful for. The last thing he needed was for another reason that could be added to the list of things why he shouldn’t be concerning with science – Nigel would be overjoyed to add another thing, as the advisor was never too pleased with him preforming experiments when Varian should be practicing his scales on the piano.

But, come on, really? Preforming the same notes over and over again? _Bo-ring._ Especially when compared to the endless possibilities that came with science! How could someone hate something that lends itself to discovery? (Nigel, but that was neither here nor there.)

Varian was fairly sure that Cassandra and Stan had something to do with that. He had caught Nigel talking with them the day after said explosion, but Nigel hadn’t followed anything else up that Varian had seen, so it seemed Varian may be able to sweep this one under the rug – _fingers crossed!_

Mom had always told him to thank people who did nice stuff for you, so he figured this qualified. He held two hand-made cards close to his chest as he hurried over to the training grounds, where he knew that Cassandra and Stan would be. The two cards weren’t all that much, but it was the best he could do without arousing suspicion from his parents.

He landed at the edge of the training grounds, the bright early morning sunlight peaking over the wall on the far side. Varian knew that he wouldn’t have anytime to come down to the grounds today, so he had risen bright and early, so he could give them to Stan and Cassandra before breakfast.

A few early risers that weren’t on duties were mingling about as they sparred and trained. Even though Cassandra technically wasn’t a member of the guard (yet), her father was in charge of them and by extension the training guards and that left her the availability to use it.

“Cassie!” Varian called the second he spotted the familiar head of short hair. She gave a slight cringe out of surprise and turned to face him, stopping mid swing of her sword, the item just inches from the metal dummy.

“Prince Varian,” Cassandra greeted, her voice a bit dull. She must be tired or something. “It’s Cass.”

“Good morning,” Varian continued brightly. “What are you doing?”

Cassandra raised a brow and looked down at her sword. “Uh, practicing.”

“Cool,” Varian said. Cassandra blew a bit of her hair out her eyes and looked down at him in confusion.

“Not to be rude, Your Highness, but I’m kind of in the middle of something here,” Cassandra said a bit urgently.

“Oh, yeah-yeah, right,” Varian said, pulling out one of the two cards to give to her. Cassandra reached down to take it from him quizzically and opened it after a moment.

“I wanted to –uh – to thank you.” Varian rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “You know, for not telling my parents – or Nigel. Especially Nigel.”

Cassandra remained silent for a moment as she read it over, before a ghost of a smile crossed her face. She shut the card slowly and looked down at him, reaching down to rub his hair with her closed fist.

“Thanks kid,” Cassandra said with a smile. “You’re alright.”

Okay, he wasn’t going to lie the contact between her gloved hand and his scalp hurt. But he really didn’t care – the fact was that Cassandra said he was a _lright._ Not that was all that important – because he was pretty sure other people had said that before – but still it was _Cassandra,_ and she was so awesome and brave and pretty –

“Is that one for Stan?” Cassandra asked, pulling him out of his daze. Varian blinked several times in confusion before remembering the second card.

“Oh, uh, yes,” Varian said. He looked around the grounds. “Is Stan here yet?”

“Not yet, Your Highness,” said Pete, walking up to them.

“Hi Pete!” Varian greeted.

“Hey there,” Pete said kindly. He looked between Cassandra and Varian. “Why are you guys looking for Stan?”

“I wanted to give him this,” Varian said, holding up the card so Pete could see. Pete nodded thoughtfully and hummed under his breath.

“Ah, well, you may be waiting for a while,” Pete said. “Stan’s goanna be coming in late today.”

“Oh…. well, how late?” Varian asked, his lips downturned in a frown. Pete shrugged and walked over to the stone wall, which was lined with various forms of weaponry.

“Don’t know, sorry Your Highness,” Pete said as he picked up a sword. “He’s introducing Lucy to his parents this morning.”

“Who-who’s Lucy?” Cassandra said, her voice uncharacteristically wavering. Varian looked over at her, concerned, before turning back to Pete with an excited smile.

“Yeah, who’s Lucy?” Varian asked with a tad bit more exuberance. “Is she a friend of Stan?”

“I guess you could say that,” Pete said slyly. “She and Stan have been dating for the past few months.”

“Really?” Varian said. “That’s amazing! Cassandra, isn’t that amazing?”

“Uh, yeah-yeah, it is,” Cassandra said, blinking rapidly in a way Varian had never seen her do before. Something seemed off about Cassandra – normally Cassandra was the epitome of confidence and courage. But right now, she seemed different, off-kilter somehow. Her confidence seemed cracked in a spot, identifiable by the barest slope of her shoulders and red tint to her glistening eye.

She cleared her throat. “Uh, how-how long have they been-been dating?”

Pete tapped his chin thoughtfully. “I-I don’t know exactly. About six months? It’s getting pretty serious. Me and a few of the other guards have a betting pool on when’ll they’re goanna get married. My moneys on within the year.” He laughed to himself. “You want in, Cass? It might earn you some quick cash.”

Cassandra shook her head and put back the sword, the hand holding his card beginning to wrinkle it with force. Varian held back from saying anything, because the feeling wafting off the older girl told him that perhaps now was not the best time.

“Uh, no-no thanks,” Cassandra said weakly. “I-um-I just remembered that I-that I have something to do. I’ll-I’ll see you guys later.”

Cassandra turned away and rushed off, almost completely gone from eyesight before Varian could get out parting words.

“Bye, Cass! See you later!” Varian said, certain to use the name she had instructed. She seemed to like that one better. Varian turned back to Peter, who was watching Cassandra leave with a raised eyebrow.

Varian reached to give Pete the card meant for Stan. “Pete, can you give this to Stan for me? Mom and Dad are expecting me.

Pete smiled and took it from him. “Of course, Your Highness. I’ll give it to him as soon as he comes in.”

“Thanks Pete!” Varian said, already rushing off back towards the palace. He really needed to stop needing to rush everywhere, he was always running off to and from places.

^ **^** ^

Oh, gosh, she was so s _tupid._

Why had Cassandra thought that she could ever be the one Stan could fall in love with? Why would he be impressed by her?

She was a fifteen-year-old girl with messy hair and a competitive streak that scared off every guy she came across. Why had she ever thought that the twenty-three-year-old Stan would settle for her?

She had had it all planned out. She wouldn’t say anything until she was older, when her being younger than him wasn’t that big a deal, and then he would reveal to her that he felt the same way. They would get married and both join the guards, and become the couple everyone wanted to be and –

_No._ She couldn’t think like that, she wouldn’t let herself. Any chance with Stan had been doomed from the start, he didn’t love her – he would never love her. He apparently loved Lucy. And she wasn’t Lucy.

She was Cassandra. She couldn’t change that.

Cassandra leaned against the wall of her room, eyes shut as the sound of silence filled the room. It had been two days since she had learned of Lucy, and she had thought of so many ways Lucy could be like. What was her favorite color? What was she doing with her life? What color was her? Cassandra would bet she was blonde – all men seemed to adore blondes – God, she hated blondes, she had never met a nice one in her life, she doubted she ever would.

What did she have that Cassandra didn’t?

Stan’s love, obviously. But why had he chosen Lucy? Couldn’t he see that Cassandra was right here, couldn’t he have waited for her, for the time when they could love each other? She supposed that was selfish, but it still hurt all the same.

“ _Cassandra?_ ”

Cassandra’s blood ran cold in anger at the sound of that voice, her teary eyes popping open in fury. No. No. No, no, no, no.

It didn’t matter if this boy was technically her superior, it didn’t matter if he was just a little boy, it didn’t matter if it hurt his feelings. Right now, her feelings and emotions were in free fall right now and she didn’t have the energy to tip-toe around his.

“Go away!” she called harshly.

“ _Cassandra, we’re all worried about you!”_ Varian said. “ _You haven’t been outside your room for nearly two whole days!”_

“I said, go away!” she tried again, slamming her hand against the cold, stone floor.

“ _Is something wrong?”_

“GO AWAY!” she demanded furiously. She heard a gasp from the little boy’s form and she knew that she had hurt his feelings. A piece of her really was sorry she had, but for a moment she was ready to just let herself feel bad. She would apologize to him later, she promised herself.

“ _Okay, Cassandra, bye,”_ he said softly, and she saw the outline of his shoes disappear from underneath her door.

She sighed and leaned back against the wall again, shifting so that she could be seated a bit more comfortably on the floor. She knew he would be back soon – he was persistent, and he knew that he just cared and wanted her to feel better. But just like when her father, Pete, and even Stan (not knowing what this was about) had come to her door asking what was wrong, she had turned them away.

Because honestly, what did they know? All of them had no right to tell her what to do in this situation. Dad had never married, Pete was, well, Pete, she would be forever mortified to speak to Stan about this ever, and Varian was like s _even._ She was best going at this alone.

A half hour after Varian left, Cassandra was aware of a soft swish sound. Cassandra looked up, interest a bit piqued. By the door sat a piece of paper, folded over four times with her name scrawled across it in Varian’s childish scrawl. Cassandra frowned and went to pick it up, upset that clearly the kid couldn’t take a hint that she wanted to be alone.

She unfolded it, raising an eyebrow at the contents of the letter.

_I don’t know why you’re upset, but we are all worried about you._

_You can talk to any of us if you want! I hope you feel better soon, Cass ~~ie!~~_

_From, Varian_

She smiled at the letter, a hint of appreciation in her for where he had scratched out the ‘ie’ in Cassie.

It was nice to know that they cared, really it was, but why were they so insistent on this? Why couldn’t they just let her be? For right now, all she wanted was the chance to let her emotions stew? Was that too much?

It was because they cared, and she was grateful for that. But she wasn’t ready yet to talk. Not yet. Not ever, maybe.

But one look at the letter told her that she had these people, a lot of people, ready for when she did want to talk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this chapter sucks, and I'm really sorry.Very little Varian in this one, but Cassandra just kind of took on a life of her own in this chapter (Because I may have been in Cassandra’s situation like three times – my crushes never work out, so I guess I’m destined to be #ForeverAlone). 
> 
> Also, remembered how I said this chapter would be funny -- yeah, well, turns out that didn't happen. Sorry.
> 
> Y'all have a blessed day!   
> \--Princess Chess


	6. I Can Almost Remember

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Summary: Varian is frightened by dreams, and Arianna wonders what Quirin might have given his son.

_Varian was cold, very cold._

_Snow was all around as it fell into giant blankets on the ground around him. It was so thick, he could barely see in front of him but, yet he knew he was in the courtyard of the palace. He furrowed his brow and began to step forward, rising a hand to block his eyes as he pushed forward._

_His coat was inconsequential, the cold was still bitter as it stung at him like knives. But it didn’t matter – something was pulling him forward into the storm._

_And then he saw it. A bright, golden light at the start of the courtyard that was beckoning all those around. The snow was almost repelled around the light, blowing in directions opposed to the light. The wintery flakes shot straight at him and nearly pushed him back towards the center of the castle._

_“Hell-hello?” he called out to the light. The light turned, revealing itself to be a girl with glowing hair that fell into piles on the ground, just a little older than him. Even amidst all the snow he could see a disruptive frown, fear shining within shimmery tears._

_“Please help me!” the girl cried. “Wha-what’s happening? Wh-where are-are we?_

_“I-I don’t know!” Varian called out to her. “Wh-why is your hair glowing?”_

_“Why are your_ eyes _glowing?” she said back to him. He furrowed his brow and then caught sight of himself in a reflective shield. His eyes were alit, crystal blue eyes shining with a neon light ruminant of the tip of fire. He gasped and stopped in his tracks._

_“Don’t be afraid!” a strong, masculine voice called. Varian and the girl shared a frightened glance, unsure of who was talking to them. “Fate has intervened!”_

_“Where-where are you?” the girl asked, spinning around wildly, careful to avoid the piles of golden, glowing hair by her feet. Varian cast a glance over his shoulder but found no one standing behind him._

_“All in time, my child,” the voice said. “But know this – fear will be your enemies. And its consequence will be dire!”_

_“What…?” Varian said, but any further discussion was shut off by the appearance of large spikes between him and the girl. She couldn’t be seen from the other side of the spikes, but he could hear a scream from the other side._

 Varian’s eyes shot straight open and he felt sweat lining every part of his body. He blinked rapidly as he adjusted to the early morning sunlight shining into his room, the sun barely peaking out of the edge of the far end of the kingdom. His heart pumped aggressively, and he knotted his hands into fists, the blue blanket stuck between his fingers.

His mind searched for whatever it was disturbing him, and once it found no physical threat, turned to its own memory. But, strangely enough, all he could recall was the last echo of a booming voice, the frightened tears of jade eyes, and the harsh wind of a winter storm – all without context, just splices of images and sounds with no thread tying them together. 

He shifted upwards, the last whispers of remembrance flooding away from him. Just seconds ago, the dream had seemed so engrained in his head and now all he had was the knowledge that he dreamed something that was important and frightening. It was as if he had the different pieces of a quilt with no way to connect them.

He shook his head and leaned back down, rolling away from the window to try to get some more sleep even though he knew it would be fruitless. He had having these dreams ever since he was a toddler and even now at age seven, it was the same thing at least once a month.

He would dream something, something that would terrify and confuse him, only for him to awake in panic, whatever it was lost to time. Mom and Dad told him it was a normal occurrence, that every person had dreams they couldn’t remember and that sometimes that they were scary. But still, his heart still felt that something was a bit strange about it…

He shifted again in his bed, throwing off his blanket. It may be the middle of winter and freezing outside, but he was still sweaty from his dream. The cool wind hit him and that helped him feel some comfort, but it still wasn’t enough to lull him back into sleep, his mind still convinced that something dangerous was still lurking in the dream world. Maybe it was right.

He sighed and stood up, his bare feet cold against the stone floor. He reached to pull a dressing robe around himself and made his way over to his ‘Tinkering Table’, a name christened upon his workspace by Nigel during a time the advisor was none too pleased with the prince. Varian had only been trying to finish an experiment when Nigel had come to him with a reminder they needed to come greet one famous composer Antonio Salieri, which Varian didn’t see the very big deal in thank you very much.

He sat himself in the wooden chair in front of it and pulled forward the small journal he left open on the table. He had no qualms about anyone reading it – he didn’t have any big strange secrets to keep, and he knew it would be hard for anyone else to understand. The journal had been a birthday gift from Mom almost two years ago, and Varian had taken it to use in many different ways. A place to write observations, scientific discoveries, to work out some math, as well as a place to write down his thoughts and feelings. It was a strange ride to read, half a page could be dedicated to his experiment on the purification of gold (something he noted as impossible, no matter what some of the other alchemist claimed) while the rest could be a note on how a visiting dignitary had the strangest things to say at dinner.

He scanned over the last thing he had written, a rough sketch for the outlines of an idea for a laundry machine slightly smudged from where he had reached across the book last night. It was a rather solid premise, he would have to try it out as soon as possible, but for now his goal was not for the advancement of engineering.

He took one pencil and scribbled a divider between the sketch and the words he would write. He wasn’t sure what he would write, all he knew was that he needed to write down something about it. He thought for a moment, tapping the pencil against his chin, before moving to write something down.

_Another weird dream. Someone yelled something, and green eyes cried. That doesn’t many any sense, but well, lots of stuff doesn’t make sense at the time – I mean, come on, how many people were like “I don’t know, I think that Mr. Newton’s gravity-thing doesn’t make any sense”. But still, it was strange. They happen a lot more know, I still don’t know anything else about them. Like, after about seven years ya’think I would know something about them. I hope I remember something soon._

Varian thought over what he wrote before nodding to himself. It wasn’t much, but it was something. He was an alchemist after all – always write down what you find and observe, it helped you and other later understand what had really happened. Or at least, that’s what all the scientists say in those big books talking about science, so it seemed credible enough.

He looked over what he wrote one more time with a critical expression and decided what he wrote was good enough. His eyes shifted up to the sketch above and the frightened, scattered memories of his rising beginning to lose their power over him as he became wrapped in thought of making his machine a possibility.

^ **^** ^

 Varian was late for breakfast.

This wasn’t anything unusual. Arianna could count on many, many hands the number of times Varian had been late for meals and various other functions because he got distracted by whatever it was he was working on. Hands messy with chemicals and hair sticking in all directions from all the explosions he tried (and failed) to hide where a common norm to see.

For the first little while she just simply waited for him to appear – normally after a while, Varian would show up of his own accord. Then five, ten, fifteen minutes passed, and his food got really cold, in addition to Nigel fuming at the edge of the room as he waited to go over the day’s schedule, and Arianna began to feel worrisome. After a quick shared glance with Frederic (who seemed concerned as well) she stood and made her way towards his room.

She had been expecting him wide-awake, either so entranced in his thoughts and experimentation that she hadn’t heard where she had come or trying to keep the door shut to hide where he had done something he wasn’t supposed to. What she got, however, was the image of a sleeping Varian at the table in the center of his room, various trinkets and bobbles scattered around him with a open journal directly next to his snoozing head.

She chuckled softly at the image and slowly made her way towards him. Varian was seven years old now and he was always going about trying to assert his independence, and that meant her sweet, little boy was starting to drift away from her. He still told her about all the things in his life and all the breakthroughs in his science work, but they know came hours later when he met with her, no longer seeking her out within seconds to excitedly exclaim to her what he knew.

Seeing him like this called to mind the tiny toddler she had cared for what felt like yesterday. Even now, he had that same calm smile and same steady rhyme of breath. Bits of pieces of the younger him seeping through even as he grew older and when she saw them, she latched onto them, not quite ready to let go of that time. Which was why when she came to stand directly by him she hesitated in waking him up.

She smiled softly and gently moved a strand of hair covering his eyes – Varian always kept his hair at a length just shy of his shoulders, not long enough to be obtrusive but enough that at times it would fall into his face or eyes in thick waves.

Her eyes glanced over his shoulder and got sight of his journal, meaning to turn away once she realized that it was a personal journal, but her attention was caught at the words ‘another weird dream’. Her brow furrowed, and she picked up the journal, carefully removing it from under his fingers.

She read over his assessment of the dream and the revelation that he still couldn’t read it, a knot tightening in her stomach. Varian’s dreams had become a mystery she and Frederic couldn’t explain; the two were no strangers to the facts of magic and the signs someone was born with it and strange dreams were one of many symptoms. But they had never been confronted with whatever it was Quirin had passed on or even given to his soon.

Quirin – even in The Protectors, from the way Frederic told it – had always had a particular penchant for the mysteries surrounding the mythical Sundrop and Moonmist. Arianna knew first-hand that the Sundrop and the Sunflower were very, very real, but from all accounts it had seemed the Moonmist had seemed to be nothing more that a fairytale. Tales of it existed, but all of them contradicted each other. Some claimed it was helpful, others harmful, a few said it gave a power of creation, and a few more said it had a power of destruction.

With the way Quirin had searched for it, was it possible Varian had some sort of connection to it? That much like her own daughter was born from a Sunflower potion, that Varian’s biological mother had given birth with aid of the Moonmist? All legends were born of truth, and was it possible that this was the truth? That her son was the proof of a fairytale’s existence? Her lost daughter was – why couldn’t her found son be it too?

Varian began to shift, and his rhythmic breathing shifted to a more irregular beat. Arianna rushed to put the journal back on the table before the newly awoken Varian could see her reading it. His head turned as he woke up, rubbing one of his crystal eyes as he looked at her.

“M-mom?” Varian asked tiredly. Arianna smiled as broadly as she could, hoping he hadn’t seen her, and folded her hands behind her back.

“Good morning, Varian,” Arianna said. Varian yawned and straightened up in his chair.

“What time is it?” Varian asked tiredly, looking out towards the window.

“It’s breakfast time,” Arianna said. She reached down to ruffle his hair. “And you, my little bluebird, seem to have fallen asleep working into the night. Didn’t we agree your bedtime was seven-thirty?”

Arianna and him both knew this was a lie, that he had fallen asleep only to wake up again, but she didn’t want him to know she knew. If Varian wanted her to know, he would tell her when he was ready. Varian looked down at his journal for a fraction of a second, before his face quirked into a sheepish smile.

“Sorry Mom,” Varian said, “I…just got lost in thought I guess.”

Either Varian was dismissing the issue after writing down or he just genuinely didn’t want to tell her, and she wasn’t sure which one was the worst one to her. Arianna faked a smile and helped him stand up.

“Well, if you can stay up late, then you can wake up early,” Arianna said. Varian wobbled a bite tiredly on his feet before straightening up with a nod.

“Okay, okay,” Varian said. “I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

“I’d hurry,” Arianna said, “Nigel is nearly bursting with impatience.”

Varian considered this for a moment before he began to laugh, most likely at the mental image of Nigel actually exploding from impatience.

“How long do you think before he does?” Varian asked, a bit of mischief in his smile. Arianna rolled her eyes at the statement and reached down to kiss the top of his head. Varian and Nigel had the strangest and most complex relationship and Arianna had yet to understand it, opting now to simply stand by.

“Just hurry, bluebird,” Arianna said. “I’ll leave so you can get dressed. And I really would hurry – breakfast’ll be over soon, and I know that you really don’t want to miss a blueberry muffin, bluebird.”

“We have _muffins?”_ Varian asked from where he was making his way towards the closet.

“Yes, we do,” Arianna said in a sing-song voice, before disappearing out of the door.

“ _I’ll be there soon!”_

Arianna laughed and made her way back to the dining room, acutely aware that the knot in her stomach was still there. They would have to find answers for him, some day.

Someday.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is much shorter than the past two, but hey, when the chapter’s reached it’s end, it’s reached its end. 
> 
> I’ve realized like every chapter has been really sad and angsty, so this one I tried to make a little lighter than the past ones. I think a little bit might have seeped through, but hey, at least it isn’t “I Won’t Let Myself” levels. Next chapter we continue the mystic theme, and unfortunately The Angst ™ will be returning tenfold. I’m a bad writer who relies on it at times because I’m not talented enough to get by without it. 
> 
> I love you guys so much! Don’t forget to leave a comment! They motivate me so much and help me make better content.   
> \-- Princess Chess


	7. And I Will Always Love You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Summary: Varian’s curious about who Quirin is, but Mom is being particularly strange when he asks them.

“ _Varian!”_

“Ahh!” Varian jumped back in surprise, the chemicals in his hand thrusting completely onto the wooden surface of his table. His eyes widened as bright green flames sprung up towards him, the temperature near his face quickly rose and his eyes threatened to close from the intensity, despite his goggles. He reached for the first thing he could find to put it out, which turned out to be a spare rag he kept nearby, and he quickly patted down the small fire with the cloth.

Once he was sure the fire was put out, he sighed in relief and turned around to nervously meet whoever it was that was calling out to him. He smiled sheepishly at the tall form of his father, a raised brow and concerned frown present on his face as he stood in the doorway of his room.

“Oh, uh, hi Dad!” Varian greeted limply, steeping to the side to block the view of left-over smoke. “Wh-what are you doing here?”

Dad didn’t come around Varian’s room all that much, that was fact. Dad coming around normally meant that he had a very specific reason to come visit, and Varian was hoping to get to that quickly, so he won’t comment on the scene that just happened.

Dad walked deeper into the room with a small chortle, apparently choosing to let the incident slide than comment on it and crossed his arms across his back.

“I just wanted to let you know that me and your mother will be unavailable for the next few hours,” Dad said.

“Oh-uh, okay. Why?” Varian said.

“We have some very important legislation to consider,” Dad said, “Unless there’s an emergency, we need to be left alone to sort through it.”

“Oh, well, ok, yeah, sure-sure,” Varian said. He fiddled with his fingers nervously and cast a look about at his experiment before looking back at Dad. He really needed to get this experiment done quickly if he wanted to get the answers he needed.

Dad chuckled at the subtle hint to leave. “I guess I’ll leave you be then.”

Varian smiled and turned back to his table, swiping away the rag so it sat on the side. The initial reaction may have been more extreme than he had originally expected, but just as he calculated the bowl in front of him was now home to a thin lavender liquid. He reached to grab a stirrer and began twirling it around.

“Just like Quirin…” Dad whispered as he left. Varian’s brow furrowed.

Who was Quirin? And what was just like Quirin? Had Dad been talking about him – and if so, why was he saying that? Was Quirin some kind of alchemist or scientist Dad knew? Did Dad mean it has a bad thing?

Varian shook his head and continued to work on his experiment, pushing away thoughts of whoever this Quirin was for the moment.

^ **^** ^

“ _As Flynigan Ryder approaches the door, he hears the sounds of something coming – a loud and cantankerous sound!”_ Varian said aloud as he rushed through the hallway. He stopped just before he reached a door, painting an overly dramatic face of fear as he imagined the sound coming towards him.

_“He looks to side to see a cavalry of the Count’s guards rushing towards him by the tens – no by the hundreds!”_ Varian recited from heart, doing as he instructed himself. He was currently reenacting the famous battle scene from Volume Seven of _The Tales of Flynigan Ryder_ – the part where Flynigan is trying to retrieve the stolen pocket watch of his best friend, which was stolen right from under his nose.

Varian had read every copy of those books at least seven times each in the past year alone, he could recite every page and action from memory. Whenever he was bored, he need only flash to his preferred book of the day and begin acting out the scenes. Or if he was really wanted to get on Nigel’s nerves that day.

“ _Flynigan reaches for his sword,”_ Varian said, positioned in a combat stance with an imaginary sword, “ _and prepares to fight off the guards!”_

“Varian, what are you doing?”

Varian dropped his position at the use of his real name and looked over his shoulder to see Mom looking at him with a raised brow.

“Oh, hi Mom!” Varian said, turning to face her fully. “I was just acting out Flynigan Ryder again!”

Mom nodded. “Oh, well, okay then. Just make sure if you make a mess to clean up after yourself, alright bluebird?”

“I will, Mom, promise!” Varian said. Mom laughed maternally and rubbed the top of his head as she passed him. A thought occurred to him as he watched her go.

“Hey, Mom, wait!” Mom turned back towards him, eyes knit upwards in a look of confusion.

“Yes?”

“Who’s Quirin?” Varian asked simply.

A very visible reaction occurred in Mom the second the question left his mouth. Her skin paled just a little, lips opening up into a surprised upturn, one hand gripped her other wrist tightly with wide eyes. Varian was a little surprised by her reaction – what was special about Quirin that it caused this reaction?

“I-I’m sorry,” Varian said quickly, trying to wave off his question, “You-you don’t have to answer, I didn’t mean to make you upset –”

“No-no, I’m not upset” Mom said, shaking her head. She shot him the most reassuring smile she could give. “Just a little…. _surprised_ , that’s all. Wh-why do you wanna who Quirin is?”

Varian shrugged. “I heard Dad say something about him a few days ago. I was just wondering if you knew who he was.”

“Yes, I know who he is,” Mom said. She leaned down to eyelevel with him, placing a hand on his shoulder. Her voice was soft and distant as her eyes were, her expression nostalgic as she began to blink away the beginning pinpricks of tears in her eyes. “He-he was an old friend of mine and your father's.”

“ _Was?”_ Varian asked.

Mom sighed and tucked one of his bangs behind his ear. “He died a few years ago.”

Varian now understood why Mom was upset. Varian’s concept of death wasn’t that great – only a couple years ago had Mom and Dad explained to him what it meant beyond the fact the person was gone. He hadn’t meant to bring up a memory of someone Mom had lost, he had just wanted to know.

“I-I’m sorry, Mom,” Varian said. Mom shook her head with a smile and caressed his face gently, her tears still yet to fall.

“Don’t be, bluebird,” Mom said. “He-he died a long time ago.”

“But you seem so sad. I don’t want you to be sad,” Varian said. Mom chuckled lightly, the sound not quite leaving her throat.

“I’m not sad, I just …. miss him, that’s all,” Mom said. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”

Mom’s answer seemed a bit strange, her tone giving a slight impression that there was something more to what she was saying. But Mom _did_ look upset and it seemed that she really did miss the late Quirin. He didn’t want to dare trespass past the line that would make her sadder or even more upset.

So instead, Varian reached forward and hugged his mom. Mom was uncharacteristically stiff at first, lending more towards his theory something else was going unsaid, before she embraced him in return. And even now, her hug was different – tighter, as if more emotion could be poured through based on the tightness of her hug.

Varian eventually let go and smiled at her calmly. “I’m sorry you miss your friend, Mom.”

“Me too,” Mom mumbled, barely above a whisper. She wasn’t looking him in the eye, her gaze stuck on a strand of his hair she was twisting in her hand. “Me too, bluebird.”

It was quiet for a moment longer as Mom reflected on her friend’s absence. Varian didn’t say anything, sensing that she needed this moment. This quiet moment eventually had to end however, when Mom’s expression flashed onto a wide smile as she stood and finally let go of Varian’s cheek.

“Remember what I said,” Mom said, her tone suggesting they hadn’t just talked about her dead friend, “if you make a mess, clean up after yourself.”

Varian was unsure what to say. What was there to say? Mom was very obviously trying to shift onto something else so who was he to continue talking about Quirin? He shook his head, mostly for his own piece of mind, and quirked on a half-smile.

“I will, Mom,” Varian said, “I promise.”

Mom nodded and reached down to place a kiss on the top of his head. “I love you, my little bluebird.”

“Love you too, Mom,” Varian replied almost automatically, even though he truly meant it. Mom gave him one last look before turning away, resolving to return on her trip to her desired destination.

Varian watched her turn the corner before turning around himself. Playing his game of make-believe just didn’t feel right at the moment – after that moment with Mom, it felt wrong to immedailty return to his world of make-believe.

He sighed and made his way towards the library, deciding that today he would simply read the stories of Flynigan Ryder instead of acting them out.

^ **^** ^

Arianna was in a daze following her conversation with Varian.

She had been foolish to think one day Varian wouldn’t learn about Quirin, about his adoption, about The Protectors, but had she been even more so to dream that she could hold out for a little longer? Varian was her son by all accounts, excepting the fact that she hadn’t carried him to term – a fact that once brought to life she knew would devast Varian. Because after all, it would reveal his foundations were a lie.

Somehow, the day had passed her by and she now found herself preparing to sleep. Even as she now brushed her hair in an almost rhythmic, hypnotic state she was unsure how to return to a world before she so bluntly lied to her son. She had of course kept things from him – how she and Frederic weren’t his birth parents, which Arianna had always passed off with the fact that he was too young to understand, and she had kept the connections of Rapunzel to their family, once again at the time saying he was too young.

She had no doubts he was a smart and kind boy, with a fair bit of maturity for his age, but could she weigh down on him the true story of ancestor while he was so young? That his birth father was a magic knight turned royal advisor turned cabbage farmer? That he might have some connection to the Moonmist – heck, that there even was a Moonmist?

But there was the alternate question that worked as the argument: _When_ would Varian be ready? _When_ would be old enough?

All these questions bubbled in her, and not for a single one of them could she come up with an answer.

“Arianna?” asked Frederic, watching her from the corner of the room. Arianna had been aware that he had been watching her critically all day the second he realized something was wrong but had been waiting to see if her mood would linger before broaching what it could be.

“Varian asked who Quirin was today,” Arianna said, as if they were picking up in the middle of the conversation. “I told him he was an old friend of ours that died.”

Silence. “Well, technically that’s _not_ wrong.”

“How are we goanna tell him?” Arianna asked as if Frederic hadn’t spoken at all. She stood from her vanity and turned to face him wildly, finding him sitting in the corner with a closed book in his lap. “We’ve-we’ve kept the truth from him for so long. And -and if what you think is true, that The Protectors are goanna come for him, then we’re going to have to tell him someday! It’s a miracle someone hasn’t let it slip that he’s adopted already!”

“Arianna.” Frederic tried to assuage her mood by moving to stand and come closer, but she ignored this and began to pace back and forth across the room. “Arianna, we don’t have to tell him tomorrow.”

“But one day we _will,”_ Arianna said. “And-and-and Quirin could have given him powers from Moonmist or whatever it is you wanna call it – and if that’s true, what if it’s so much more than his dreams? What if something more comes of it? What are we goanna do then?”

“Arianna.” Frederic’s tone seemed a bit more forceful now as he tried to get her to stop.

“And that’s not even beginning with the basic stuff! How—how can I look him in the eye now, knowing I intentionally hid the truth of his biological father from him?”

“Arianna!” Frederic finally managed to catch onto her shoulders. Arianna looked up at him tearfully.

“What are we goanna do?” Arianna asked. Frederic was distant with Varian, but Arianna wasn’t blind. She knew he cared for Varian, and that the day they had to confess to their son was one dreaded for him as well.

“I don’t know,” Frederic replied honestly. Arianna felt her stomach grow to accommodate her drooping heart. She knew that together, her and Frederic could weather almost any storm. Economic hardship for the kingdom, diplomatic incidents, even the kidnapping of their daughter had been a hurricane they had ridden out hand-in-hand. But if for this oncoming storm they had no way to guide the other, how were they going to do this? Especially when they could never be sure when this one would come ashore?

“But,” Frederic continued, raising her chin to look at him, “no matter what happens, we know that he will be our son.”

It was the truth, but it was one she was finding it really hard to believe. “I-I just don’t want him to get hurt.”

Frederic sighed. “I think, at this point, there is no way to avoid that.”

That was the straw that broke the camel’s back, the very revelation that she had been dreading to hear. They had kept the secrets for too long and when they came, they would hurt Varian. All she had aimed to do was protect him and that was going to backfire on them on the day it all came to light.

Lie to him and keep him safe from that harm? Or tell him and risk that heartbreak? It was a no-win situation, one she had no way out of.

“I-I’m going to sleep,” Arianna murmured. She broke his gaze and walked over to the bed, prepared to let herself loose these thoughts in sleep.

Tomorrow she would deal with this, but for now she needed a temporary escape.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’ve kind of left it a bit ambiguous if Varian was aware of his adoption, and I hope this one makes it clear he isn’t aware. I went back and forth on that point, since Gothel technically did the same thing to Rapunzel, but I eventually decided to go this path because Arianna and Frederic are imperfect, and they are going to make wrong decisions. This’ll be touched on more in-universe when the reveal happens. 
> 
> Hope y’all are ready for next week – some more characters will be popping up, can you guys guess whom?
> 
> Did y'all hear the season 2 news? Bruh, I'm so excited! Jeremy's coming back, new name of the series, AND new outfits? PLUS A SEASON 3? I'm so ready!  
> \-- Princess Chess


	8. From The Moment I Met You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Varian finds a raccoon, and he’s about a thousand percent sure it needs his help.

The sun shone brilliantly on Corona as people bustled about, the din making it hard for Varian to hear his thoughts. Men and woman walked around him as they rushed too and from their places to be. He smiled and began to move forward, glad to be lost in the anonymity of the crowd.

He liked going out to Corona, especially since Mom and Dad started letting him go more often. In the months since his ninth birthday they had let him start going more into the village – but only for a few hours at a time and he had to be home in time before dark. Which he supposed was fair, he was still fairly young all things considered, and he was so excited to even be allowed to go out into the kingdom at all.

He walked past the merchants selling their wares and he hugged the bag in his hands closer to his chest as he made his way to the cobbler shop. Mom’s birthday was coming up – and he had the perfect idea for a gift, he just needed the help of the cobbler and a seamstress.

He caught sight of the sign for the shop, the swirling script of _Finley Family Cobbler Shop_ written in bright yellow letters over the doorway. He smiled even wider and rushed over to the building, weaving between people with hurried and many versions of “pardon me”.

This was the shop Daniel and Felspar had come to them for advice for five years ago, which Varian always requested they go to when they needed new shoes or boots for the palace staff. After all, Felspar needed the business right after his grandfather died.

The shop was open when he got there, but it wasn’t all that particularly busy inside. One or two customers were milling around as they looked over the one or two styles of shoes Felspar kept on hand. Felspar stood just behind the counter, ringing up one customer who had a new pair of shoes on their feet.

“Please, come again soon!” Felspar called as the patron walked away. The red head smiled when he got sight of the young royal and beckoned him closer.

“Prince Varian!” Felspar greeted. “What can I do for you today?”

Varian – happy to find he had finally reached a height where he didn’t have to stand on his toes to see over counters – smiled and placed the bag on top of the wooden board. “Hey, Felspar. I was actually hoping you could repair an old pair of shoes for me.”

Felspar raised an eyebrow and Varian pulled out an old dilapidated pair of shoes from the bag. They were styled far too slimly to be a pair of male shoes and were the color of a light purple which Varian knew was probably confusing for Felspar since they were not his shoes.

Varian pushed them across the counter towards Felspar shyly. Felspar picked them up critically as he traced over some of the dilapidated aspects of the item.

“I was hoping you could repair these shoes for me,” Varian said. Felspar didn’t look up from the shoes as he gave a slight indication of his interest with a nod. There was a slight hole in the sole of the left one, and various scuff marks on the sides from their use.

“I assume these aren’t yours, Your Highness?” Felspar asked, putting the shoes down on the counter. Varian shook his head.

“No—they-they were Mom’s, when she was younger,” Varian explained, slinging the bag back around one shoulder. Felspar looked between the shoes and Varian.

“These are Queen Arianna’s shoes?” Felspar asked. Varian nodded with a buck-toothed smile.

“Yeah – or they were,” Varian said. He bit the inside of his check nervously. “Mom said she wanted to wear them to her coronation, but she and her aunt Indur accidently ruined them before she could. I was hoping you could repair them.”

“Oh, yeah, right!” Felspar said, recognition flashing in his eyes. “I remember Queen Indur of Arendalle – I think she was a princess last time she came to Corona. I wonder whatever happened to her….”

Varian had heard a few stories of Indur, and that Mom and she had been playmates back when they were younger due their age gap being more akin to siblings than aunt and niece. But he had never met Indur or any of their relatives in Arendalle, so he had no idea what Indur was like, or Arendalle at all even. All he knew was that they had an alliance with them and that the royal family was really reclusive, much like the royal family of Terran. Why were so many royal families non-social?

Varian shook his head and looked back up at Felspar hopefully. “Can you do it?”

Felspar gave one last critical look before nodding at the prince. “Sure, Your Highness. But it’ll take a couple weeks. They’re in pretty rough shape.”

Varian smiled at the man. He pulled out a handful of coins and held them out across the counter. “That’s okay, Mom’s birthday is in a month. Should this cover the cost?”

Felspar’s eye widened as he took the coins in his own hands. “This-this more than covers it! Your Highness, I can’t take this much!”

Varian suddenly remembered why else he was here. He reached down to pull out the dress accompanying the shoes, which had large holes in the skirt and tears in the bodice. “I heard, that, uh, your cousin was a seamstress. I was hoping she could fix the dress that went along with it.”

Felspar nodded and took the dress from Varian, folding it behind the counter. “I’d have to check with her first, but Lucy should be able to handle it. And this payment still should more than cover it.”

 “Will-will the dress be ready about the same time?” Varian asked, clutching the strap of the bag.

Felspar looked down at the dress and then shrugged. “Should be. Or at least, I think so.”

“Really? Great!” Varian said excitedly. Felspar smiled at him kindly.

“They should be ready in about…two weeks? Is that alright?” Felspar said. Varian nodded and stepped away from the counter.

“Yes! That’s perfect!” Varian called from the door. Mom and Dad had only given him a short time out of the castle today, so he wanted to be sure he got back in time.

“See you again soon, Your Highness!”

Varian stepped back out into the Corona sunlight, eyes crinkling from the sun’s rays hitting him directly. He had been walking in the direction similar to the sun on the way here; he hadn’t expected it to be so bright. He squinted and began weaving his way back through the crowds again.

If people recognized him, they didn’t say anything, because no one addressed him at all as he made his way through. It might have something to do with how many people were out today – it had been busy before, but the people milling about seemed to have at least _doubled_ in the time it took for him to converse with Felspar. He frowned and tried to squeeze through two people, giving a quick ‘excuse me’ before running tripping over something.

“ _Ah!”_ Varian’s hands managed to break his fall as he fell onto the stone ground. He shook his head to clear it, feeling a stinging sensation on his hands and one shin. He frowned, knowing this most likely mean some skin had been scratched and looked to see a thin line of red blood on his left shin, along with a few patchy areas with the scarlet substance on his hands. He hissed in pain, bringing his hands close to his chest, and turned to face whatever it was he had tripped over with a scowl.

His scowl melted away when he saw what it was he had tripped over. It wasn’t a thing, but an animal. A small, gray animal barely as big as his arm. It was a baby raccoon, but that wasn’t what distressed him. The animals fur was matted with dirt and grime, which was normal for animals, he supposed, but one of it’s paws was raised up so they couldn’t walk on it. It was staring at him even as people walked, ribs poking out and joints visible.

Varian continued staring at the animal, even as people continued to go about around them. Why weren’t they running off? Shouldn’t they be frightened by all the people?

But it looked so sick and tired. Maybe it just didn’t have it in them to run?

Varian reached out to the animal, but it cringed back at the movement. Varian frowned and reached out again, moving to rest on his knees so he can reach farther.

“Hey-hey, it’s okay,” Varian said softly. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

The raccoon blinked in fear for a moment but didn’t pull further away from him. Varian managed to reach the tip of their head and patted their head softly. The raccoon sniffed once and pulled closer to Varian, and he managed to reach down to pet the rest of his body. The fur felt stiff and many times his fingers nearly caught where he could feel the animal’s bones beneath the skin.

Varian pulled the raccoon onto his lap, positioning the animal so that it’s injured leg could rest. He petted the animal again, and it gave no indication for him to stop. He gave a whisper of a smile as they gave a slight titter.

“There, there, I got you,” Varian whispered. The raccoon remained in a stiff position for a moment before they melted a bit. Varian’s smile threatened to grow, but it quickly faded when he got a closer look at the animal. The leg currently bent looked like it might be broken, the animal looked even thinner up close and he could see the outline of scars along thin patches of fur.

The raccoon was clearly young and in pain, and Varian was unsure how to help them. Nigel would literally kill him if he busted into the castle with an injured, baby raccoon at his side. But he couldn’t just _leave_ them here! It needed help!

“Move out of the way, kid!”

A knee hit his back, and he hugged the raccoon close to his chest as his torso thrust forward.

Apparently, him staying here wasn’t an option either. Varian frowned and stood up, deciding that he needed to at least get out of the way.

He moved off to one of the alleys and was a little relieved by the shade it provided. With all the excitement regarding the raccoon, he had almost forgotten how hot it was. Wait – what was a raccoon doing out during the day anyway?

“You’re just a bundle of mysteries, aren’t you buddie?” Varian asked aloud. The raccoon gave some kind of sound and looked up at him.

Varian sighed. “Well, I can’t leave you here. How would you like to come home with me?”

Silence. Well, that wasn’t a disagreement.

Varian smiled, but then thought about how well bringing this raccoon to the palace would go over.

Not very.

Varian frowned. “Now the question is, how am I going to get you in?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We are now transitioning into a slightly more serialized storytelling. We’ll have three pre-movie (one at age nine, one at age ten, and one at age twelve) and series where everyone will be like that, so this is to allow a bit of transition between the previous chapters to the actual storyline.
> 
> Originally, this was going to be Varian meeting Flynn/Eugene and at the end Varian was going to meet Rudiger, but I scrapped that because it was just making Flynn/Eugene come off as a jerk. So, it’s just Rudiger and Varian for the next few chapters.
> 
> IMPORTANT: The way things look currently, I will NOT be able to update on Sunday so I am posting NOW. This update takes the place of the usual Sunday update this week. This Sunday will NOT have an update. 
> 
> \-- Princess Chess


	9. Glad You Came

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter summary: Varian gets the raccoon in and gives him a name. But his secret may only last like four seconds.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is early because IDK.

Getting the racoon into the palace was going to be a high stealth mission. One requiring cunning, many moving parts, and a highly thought-out plan.

Or at least, that’s what it felt like to Varian as he first stepped back into his home. The racoon was currently resting in his satchel – being the only place Varian could think of on such short notice --, the flap pulled up a bit to allow constant circulation of air but down enough to hide that the item inside was a living thing.

Varian felt as though he was nearly sweating out of his skin as he passed by the two guards by the front gate. They gave him kind glances as he passed which he barely found it in him to return them. He gave a small wave; one hand wrapped around to try and hide the bag subtly.

Once he was sure he made it past the guards with no problems, he allowed himself a small smile. His mind flashed back to the fact that he now had to get the raccoon past _Nigel,_ and he felt his smile droop a little as he climbed the stone stairs to the door.

He paused right before he entered and pulled up the bag, so he could see the animal inside. A remnant of a smile returned as Varian looked down at him.

“Okay, buddy, now here comes the hard part,” Varian said quietly. “We got to get you past Nigel.”

The raccoon tittered one or two times, patting his side once as though he understood that this was going to be hard, and Varian rubbed his head once.

“Sorry, but you’re going to have hide again,” Varian said, motioning for him to sit back down in the brown satchel. The raccoon went back down, and Varian shut the bag back where it had been, stepping back inside with a cautious frown.

He shut the front doors behind him quietly and looked around to make sure no was watching him. He nodded to himself once he was safe and quickly began to move just below a sprint toward his room. People in the castle were more than used to him rushing around, so he knew no one would really question him all that much about going so fast. Except, of course –

“Your Highness,” Nigel said, Varian rounding a corner to see him standing there.

Varian gulped and slung the bag so that it rested behind him. Of course, the one person he didn’t want to meet was the one he did.

“Nigel!” Varian greeted a bit too enthusiastically. “Great-great to see-see you!”

Nigel raised an eyebrow at him. “Your Highness, you’ve returned earlier than expected. I thought you were going to visit _Monty’s Sweet Shop_ this morning.”

Varian scrambled for a moment to recall what exactly Nigel was talking about, before remembering that’s what he had told Mom and Dad when he said he was going out to the kingdom this morning. He pulled at one of his hands shyly.

“Oh, uh, I-I changed my mind,” Varian said. “I remembered I had some –some – uh – tests to run on one of my experiments.”

Nigel seemed to accept this answer with a subtle shrug. The raccoon rumbled in the bag some and Varian’s hope that Nigel hadn’t caught it was squashed when the man raised an eyebrow, leaning to the side to see the bag still slung around Varian’s shoulder. Varian looked behind him to glare at the bag before smiling widely at Nigel.

“What was that?” Nigel asked.

“Oh – uh – an-an explosion!” Varian improvised nervously. Both of Nigel’s eyebrows shot up at this explanation.

“An _explosion?_ ” Nigel said in disbelief. Varian, who was admittedly thinking that this lie was not the best one, knew he had to stick to his story.

“I-I had some vials of chemicals in-in my bag!” Varian said quickly. “And they-they must have gotten-gotten out!”

Nigel blinked several times. “Then how come the bag isn’t –”

“It was great talking with you Nigel!” Varian said, effectively cutting him off. Varian stepped to the side, to hide the bag even more, and began to slip by him with an anxious look. “But-but I really have to go! Time-sensitive experiments are waiting for me!”

“But, Your Highness –”

“Bye!” Varian said, quickly rushing off and away from the advisor. Varian was sure he would get an earful from Mom and Dad later about running in the halls and his conversation with Nigel (because Nigel was most assuredly going to tell his parents), but he would deal with that later.

Varian managed to make his way to his room with no more interruptions or people, which made him eternally grateful. If more people had notes how he was acting today, than Nigel would have more in his arsenal for his “strange” behavior he was undoubtedly about to tell Mom and Dad. He opened the door to his room and rushed inside, shutting the door behind him with a bang a little louder than he would have liked.

Varian sighed in relief and leaned against the white wooden door with a smile. He slipped off the bag and slid to sit on the floor, opening the satchel to reveal the raccoon looking back up at him with what could only be construed as a smile.

“Well, we made it past Nigel,” Varian said, as though the raccoon could understand him. “Now we got to make sure he doesn’t find you. At least until you’re all better.”

Varian pulled the raccoon out of the bag gently, careful not to hurt the little animal. He cradled it in his arms in order to get a better look at the injuries they may have. He knew about the leg and that the baby raccoon seemed to be bordering on starvation, but other than that it seemed to be alright.

“Broken leg,” Varian said. “We’ll fix that first and then we’ll get you something to eat. That’s the plan.” Varian stood, taking the raccoon with him over to his Tinkering Table. “None of which you understand, because you are a baby raccoon.”

The raccoon made a sound as they walked, either by coincidence or to prove him wrong and Varian was going to go with the former for his own sanity. Varian set the raccoon down on the table, clearing off a spot covered in papers.

Varian scanned his desk for something that would be suitable to use as a brace, but the only thing was the thin pencil he kept on hand. Varian picked it up with a shrug. It would do. He pulled off some strips from the fire-prevention-and- “don’t-you-dare-make-a-mess-or-I-will-make-you-have-three-hour-music-lessons-for-a-week” rag Nigel had given him.

“You know, I can’t just call you a raccoon forever,” Varian said, motioning the animal closer. Varian set lining up the pencil with his leg, which would force him to straighten it out for just a second.

Varian smiled apologetically at his little friend. “Sorry, buddy, this might hurt just a little bit.”

Varian straightened the leg, wincing as he saw the flash of pain and heard the small squeak from the small animal. Varian cringed and lined the pencil up with the side of the injured leg.

“Sorry, again….” Varian tied the pencil alongside it with the torn pieces of cloth. It was a make-shift brace so that when he needed to walk around he could have balance and so when the bone grew back together, it would regrow straight back together.

“There, is that better….” Varian sighed. “You know, you really do need a name.” Varian smiled and pet the top of his head. “How about Flynn?”

It was the first name he could think of – it was, after all, the name of his hero and just about the coolest person ever (after Cassandra, that is). It appeared the raccoon didn’t like it, because he shook his head at the name.

“Okay, how about…. Tony?” Varian asked. That was the name of the _author_ of the Flynigan Ryder books.

The raccoon made a face. Varian sighed and racked his brain for a name to use for him.

“Uh…. Rudiger?” Varian offered up. It was an off-the-wall name, he knew that, but he recalled reading it dimly from one of the Flynigan Ryder books as one of Flynigan’s clients. He wasn’t sure why that name came to him, but it somehow felt like the right one for him.

It seemed the raccoon agreed too, because he smiled and gave what could be considered a nod. Varian smiled and scooped him up in his arms.

“Okay, Rudiger it is,” Varian said. Varian walked back over to where he left his satchel by the door and reached down to pick it up. He fished around inside and found a few pieces of bread he had shoved in this morning under some of the papers he had also grabbed.

He held one out to Rudiger, who looked at critically from the crook of one of his arms. Varian frowned and nodded once for him to take it.

“It’s okay, Rudiger,” Varian said. Rudiger took it gingerly and twirled it in his paws for a second, looking back up at Varian to be sure, before beginning to eat it quickly. Varian smiled and walked over to his bed, setting the animal down on it and leaving the rest of the bread for him to eat. Varian scratched behind his ears once.

“Okay, so eat that, and then we’ll work on getting you a bath, okay?” Varian asked. Rudiger gave no indication that he heard him, still eating the bread intently. Varian chuckled and put his hands on his hips.

“Hey, Varian, are you in there?” a voice said at his door. “It’s me, Cass.”

Varian’s eyes widened in panic. He had a raccoon on his bed and Cass banging on his door. If Cass saw Rudiger, then the raccoon would be sent back faster than you can say “What is that?!”.

Rudiger looked at Varian in confusion for a moment, which Varian returned.

“I know you’re in there. Nigel said you were.”

This was bad. This was really bad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OUR FIRST CLIFFHANGER (get used to them, because I am relentless about them. You’ll see.)
> 
> And what do you think? Is our favorite raccoon in character? I hope so, I’ve gotten so used to writing the sassy version of him over in the my Juliet!Verse that I don’t know if he is in line with canon. 
> 
> Oh, and did anyone catch the Moana reference? I don’t know why, but I’m like insanely proud of it for some reason. *shrugs* I’m just weird I guess.
> 
> \-- Princess Chess


	10. So Small

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter summary: "But you promised!"

“Just a minute!” Varian called, scooping Rudiger up. He heard a sigh through the door, never a good sign that Cass was about to be patient.

His eyes scanned for a place to hide Rudiger, and he began to panic when he realized just how few places he had to hide the animal. He couldn’t use the curtains of his windows because they didn’t reach the floor, so Rudiger’s feet could be seen, and any boxes he had lying around where far too small for his little raccoon friend.

“Uh….” Varian drawled, frantically looking around.

“Varian?!” Cassandra asked again.

Varian’s eyes eventually landed on the wardrobe in the far corner. He shared a look with Rudiger, thinking over the idea as Rudiger’s nose twitched and brow furrowed, as if to say, ‘don’t you dare’. Varian gave an apologetic smile and raced over to the wardrobe.

He threw the doors open wide and pushed aside the clothes hung up so that Rudiger wouldn’t be swaddled by the fabrics.

“Sorry, buddy,” Varian whispered, Cassandra once again knocking on the door (this time with a bit more force), “but Cass would totally kick you out.”

“ _Varian!”_

“I’ll be back soon,” Varian murmured, shutting the doors quickly, but leaving a slither of it open to let in some light for Rudiger.

“ _I’m coming in!”_

Varian spun around, and the door opened to reveal a rather impatient looking Cassandra, wearing her hated blue dress and a scowl. Varian stepped away from the light blue dresser with his best guess at an unassuming smile.

“Hey Cassie!” Varian said. Cassandra cringed, and Varian instantly knew why – in the moment, he had forgotten how abhorrently Cassandra hated use of the name Cassie.

“Varian,” Cassandra greeted stiffly, most likely from a mix of using the wrong name and keeping her outside. Cassandra had dropped of using titles for Varian somewhere along the line, but Varian – who never really put much stock in names and titles anyway – had never really gotten around or been bothered to correct her.

“Wh-what are-are you doing here?” Varian asked. “Not-not that I’m no-not totally excited to see you or anything!”

Cassandra raised an eyebrow. “Ran into Nigel. He said you were acting strange. Something about an explosion. Thought I’d come see what was up.” Cassandra looked around the room with a raised brow. “Doesn’t look there was an explosion.”

“I-it was in the bag,” Varian lied. Cassandra looked to where the satchel was still lying by the door.

“It also doesn’t _look_ like something exploded in your bag,” Cassandra said. Varian shrugged and reached to pick up the bag.

“I-I cleaned it up,” Varian said. Cassandra didn’t seem to be buying his excuses and stepped furtherer inside with a frown. She looked around the room again, eyes scrutinizing every inch of the place.

“You’re up to something,” Cassandra said bluntly. Varian, a bit offended that she had assumed that of him despite the fact he _was_ up to something, shook his head quickly.

“No, I’m not!” Varian protested. Cassandra crossed her arms slyly.

“I wasn’t born yesterday, Varian,” Cassandra said, rolling her eyes. “You normally are letting people into your room within seconds of a knock. And you just told me to _wait._ You only do that when you’re hiding something.”

A _thump_ came from his wardrobe, causing Varian’s heart to drop in his second. Cassandra’s eyes narrowed in confusion.

“What was that?”

“Nothing!” Varian said, a bit too quickly. Another _thump_ followed this statement. Cassandra began to walk towards the wardrobe with a frown.

“Didn’t sound like nothing,” Cassandra said. Varian’s heart was beating wildly as he watched Cassandra made his way closer to where Rudiger was hiding. Cassandra may not be the most avid of rule followers (what with her continued insistence on keeping sword on her all the time), but she would definitely be against the keeping of Rudiger. Raccoons were considered pests – no doubt that Rudiger would be kicked out!

“It’s nothing!” Varian tried again.

“Uh-huh, yeah, right,” Cassandra said. She reached for the door and Varian bit his lip. There had to be a way to get Cassandra off this that didn’t involve Rudiger being kicked out – there had to be.

“WAIT!” Varian shouted. Cassandra hesitated just as her fingers latched onto the handle, eyes widened toward Varian in surprise. Varian didn’t yell very often, so when he did people tended to stop and listen. Varian didn’t like raising his voice – it often made people uncomfortable, and he didn’t want that. But there just wasn’t any other way to get Cassandra to stop.

“Wait!” Varian said in a calmer tone, walking over to her. He crossed his arms nervously and smiled a half smile as he looked up at her.

“If-if I _show_ you, do you _promise_ not to tell anyone?” Varian asked. Cassandra’s face flooded with uneasy concern, looking between the wardrobe and Varian.

“Varian, what are y –”

“Just promise, okay?” Varian said. Cassandra paused for one more moment and spared one more glance at the blue wood next to them before nodding.

“Okay, okay, I promise,” Cassandra said. Varian sucked in a breath anxiously and reached for the door of the wardrobe.

“Alright, here it is,” Varian said. He opened it up unsurely to see Rudiger sitting on the bottom, a black shirt covering his body. Rudiger looked up at him with a smile and Varian had to quell the laugh in his throat. It seemed Rudiger had gotten a little bored during his short time inside.

Varian picked Rudiger up in his arms and turned to face Cassandra. He smiled nervously.

And then Cassandra began to blink. “What-is-t _hat_ -ohmygoodness-?”

“Cass, this is Rudiger,” Varian said. Varian raised Rudiger up to face-level with Cassandra. “I found him when I went to go get Mom’s birthday present. He looked injured and I-I had to bring him home!”

Cassandra seemed to finally come to terms with the situation, at least a little bit, because now her expression was less horrified and more just pure shock. They were making a little progress it seemed.

“V-Varian, that’s-that’s a _raccoon_ ,” Cassandra said simply. Varian looked at Rudiger, wondering if he had missed something, before looking at Cassandra in befuddlement.

“Uh, yeah. I know that,” Varian said.

“And you don’t see how having a raccoon in the castle might be a _bad_ thing?” Cassandra asked.

Varian shook his head and hugged Rudiger to his chest, careful to not harm his leg. “Nope.”

Cassandra sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. “All the knowledge in that brain of yours and I have to explain why keeping a _predatory scavenger in a castle_ is a bad idea.”

“But he’s not like that!” Varian defended. “He’s hurt and starving and just a baby!”

“He won’t always be this little,” Cassandra said. She shook her head and brushed past him. “I have to go tell Nigel or someone.”

“No!” Varian cried, whirling around to grab her hand. “You-you promised if I showed you that you wouldn’t tell!”

“That’s when I thought you had a mini-explosion or something!” Cassandra insisted. “Not-not a living, breathing thing!”

“But you _promised_!” Varian said stubbornly. If he was a bit younger he may have even stomped his foot, but he wasn’t that _immature._ He may be nine-years-old, but he wasn’t going to stoop to that level.

“Varian….” Cassandra murmured, conflict plainly apparent in her face. Varian furrowed his brow with a measured bit of rage.

“When you _promise_ something, you don’t _break_ that promise,” Varian said. Cassandra pulled in a deep breath through her nose. She cast a look down at Rudiger, who smiled back up at her innocently. She looked very unsure with the idea, but the combination of his words and Rudiger’s smile seemed to be wearing her down.

“Varian, you-you _can’t_ just keep this a secret forever,” Cassandra said.

“Yeah, I know, I know,” Varian said, nodding his head enthusiastically. “I was going to help him get better and then I was going to tell Mom and Dad! I really was!”

Okay, so he had _no_ plan to tell Mom and Dad until literally five seconds ago. But Cassandra didn’t need to know that. Besides, it was only one little white lie.

Cassandra remained silent for one more minute before she huffed dramatically and crossed her arms.  

“I’m goanna regret this,” Cassandra mumbled. Varian’s eyes lit up at her words. Wa-was she going to keep the secret?

“Two months,” Cassandra said. “You have two months to let this Rodger or Rupert or whatever his name is –”

“Rudiger.”

“—yeah, him, whatever, to get better and tell your parents, or else _I_ will.”

Varian smiled and hugged Cassandra with one arm. The seventeen-year-old didn’t appear to be too excited by the hug or having a raccoon so close to her but didn’t try to push him off. Varian stepped back with a smile that only grew with each passing second.

“Thank you so much!” Varian said, bouncing up and down on his heels. “I’ll tell Mom and Dad, I promise!”

Cassandra shook her head in exasperation and walked away, back towards the door. “I better not have to clean up a mess he made!”

Varian laughed. “You won’t!”

Varian smiled as he watched her go before looking back down at Rudiger. He hugged him against his chest again, which Rudiger responded too with an energetic series of twitters and twitches. Cassandra shut the door behind her with a gentle thud and Varian nearly busted into a happy jog the second they were left alone.

“Now we have Cassandra on our side!” Varian said. “Temporarily, but still!” He furrowed his brow as he felt a breeze blow Rudiger’s smell towards him. He almost gagged at the smell. “And you still need that bath, don’t you?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear, these chapters are not meant to be smaller, they just turn out this way. Next chapter will be much longer because it’ll be the conclusion to this little arch. Boi, am I excited to write that!
> 
> This is the third update in a row on not a Sunday, so the update schedule has been a little sketchy because of that. Next week this returns to the normal update schedule of Sundays, at least that's the game plan.
> 
> Love y'all all!
> 
> \-- Princess Chess


	11. But I'm Not To Blame

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter summary: Rudiger couldn’t be a secret forever.

The two months that Varian had to tell his parents went by much faster than he would have liked. The first month’s end brought with it Mom’s birthday (who, by the way, seemed to have really liked his gift) and also Rudiger’s recovery. Rudiger’s leg was miles away from the injured state it had been, and after four weeks of changing splinters and rags/bandages it seemed to have finally made its full recovery. His fur seemed shinier, his bones were no longer visible, and it was _much_ more apparent how active the baby animal could be.

The second month was a series of fun things and days with his new raccoon friend. Varian was so glad to have someone to hang around now – he wasn’t that incredibly popular among the states people for his age and there wasn’t very many around his age that seemed to like talking about alchemy, and that’s not even taking into account the kids who didn’t talk to him because they were intimated by his title (which confused him, because he was like every other nine-year-old), so he was kind of stuck in an in-between.

Rudiger, however, didn’t care at all about his title or the fact that he was a little eccentric. During experiments, reading, or acting out stories, Rudiger was always there for times when Varian normally would be alone. And it would have been perfect even, if it wasn’t for the fact that he had to hide Rudiger’s existence from his parents (or worse – _Nigel_ ).

Two days out from the big reveal, Varian was a bundle of nerves as he agonized over the decision on if he should go ahead and tell Mom and Dad about the raccoon or wait until the exact moment that Cassandra said his time was up. He was avoiding her because of the whole situation as well, so this whole thing really was noteworthy – he never missed out a chance to talk with _Cassandra._

The beginnings of winter were no help at all in this situation, because that meant the chance to get outside with Rudiger – thus limiting the amount of chances for contact – was limited, because there was only so much time you could spend out in the cold before people started getting suspicious.

Still, it helped some. Corona pretty much only had two seasons – summer and winter and a few days of spring and fall thrown in for good measure, so Varian was well-equipped on how to stay warm in the cold.

Rudiger scurried across the castle ground as Varian rushed after with a smile.

“Rudiger! Slow down!” Varian said a bit breathlessly, red faced and panting. Rudiger tittered something that had an enthusiastic lilt to it and didn’t stop. The raccoon jumped onto the banister of one of the stairs leading to the door and Varian ran upwards two-at-a-time to keep up with the lithe animal.

Varian tripped on the last step and fell down into the snow on the balcony, a thin blanket of the white substance creating a cushion that softened his blow. He spit out some of the powdery snow and saw Rudiger staring straight at him with a smile.

“I told you to slow down,” Varian deadpanned, and Rudiger tilted his head to the side innocently. Varian – who wasn’t all that upset or hurt – smiled and stood up, scooping up Rudiger into his arms.

“You’re going to be the death of me,” Varian said. In addition to the recent fall and the one when he first found Rudiger, Varian had ran into and fallen so many times when going after his pal that it was miraculous he had managed to make it the two months without giving himself away due to cuts and bruises – which, luckily, hadn’t happened besides one or two minor ones that he had been able to discreetly hide under his clothing.

“Varian!”

Varian snapped up to see the frightened look of his mom at the front door, racing towards him in her winter clothes. His eyes widened and hugged Rudiger close to him in shock.

Well at least he won’t have to _tell_ Mom.

“Varian, put down that raccoon!” Mom said urgently. “It’ll bite you!”

Varian smiled nervously and stepped back from her, but still not letting go of Rudiger. Mom frowned and reached down to take Rudiger from his arms.

“No, Mom!” Varian said, pulling Rudiger away so that she couldn’t reach him. “He-he’s friendly!”

“Varian, please,” Mom said, crossing her arms. “It’s a raccoon—”

“But he’s really nice!” Varian insisted. “The past two months have been –”

“Two months?!” Mom said, her eyes widening. Varian’s heart sank as he realized what he said and on instinct he looked down at Rudiger and away from his mom. “Varian, what do you mean by _two months_?”

“Uh, well, you see—” Varian shifted on his feet “– it’s king of a long story, and I won’t _bore_ you with details –”

“VARIAN!” Mom was clearly aggravated at this point, and the gleam in her eyes seemed to be tittering right on the edge of angry. He needed to choose his next words _very_ carefully.

He clutched Rudiger with one arm and rubbed the back of his neck with another. He opened his mouth to speak to calmly explain, but his nervousness overtook him and all his words came out as one giant rush.

_“Wellyouseeit’skindofareallyfunnystoryIfoundhimafewmonthsagointhevilliageandhewashurtandneededmyhelpbuthe’sbetternowandhisnameisRudigerandnow’shekindofmybestfriendpleasedon’ttellDadorNigelbecauseI’mworkingupthenervetotellthemmyselfandIreallywasgoingtotellyoureallyIwas.”_

Varian gulped in as much air as he could after all the words busted out of him, his breath having been completely used to tell the story. Mom blinked in surprise and tilted her head to the side, the aggravated expression transformed into one of confusion.

“Varian,” Mom said, “I’m pretty sure I only understood a little over half of what you said, but what I gathered was that you found a hurt raccoon, took care of him, named him Rudiger, and that you were going to tell us. Is that right?”

Varian nodded. “Yes Mom.”

Mom sighed once and pointed to the door. “Let’s finish this conversation inside.”

Varian saw that this was a signal that this was going to be a very long conversation. He looked down at his feet guiltily but went inside without protest. Rudiger made a couple of sounds and wriggled out of Varian’s grasp, falling down to walk beside Varian’s boots.

He could feel Mom behind him and he didn’t have to see it to know that Mom wasn’t all that excited about this, which made his feelings of guilt rise in his stomach. He hated making Mom upset or angry. He could make everyone else that way at the drop of a hat, but Mom? Her anger was so rare that when it came, he felt like he was personally attacking her to get it.

The door shut behind them and he turned to face her, Rudiger resting still at his heels.

“Varian.” She sighed. “You know you can’t keep Rudiger, right?”

“But, Mom –”

“No, Varian, listen,” she said, putting a hand on his shoulder and came down to eye-level with him. “Rudiger is a scavenger and a wild animal, he doesn’t belong inside stone walls.”

Varian frowned and spared a quick glance to Rudiger, who was looking up at him hopelessly.

“Mom, he’s-he’s only a baby,” Varian said quietly. “And-and when I found him he was alone!”

“I know, Varian,” Mom said. “But he won’t be a baby forever. Eventually he’s going to grow up and adult animals are dangerous.” She caressed his face in a soft, maternal way. “I just don’t you to get hurt.”

“But he’s st-still little!” Varian protested. “Even if he’s going to grow up one day, he’s not right now! And-and he doesn’t have anyone to take care of him! I couldn’t just leave him!”

He frowned and picked up Rudiger again, stepping back from Mom with a furrowed brow and a determined downward arc to his lips.

“He was hurt!” Varian continued. “And hungry! He would have _died!”_ His voice broke on the last word and he felt the beginning pinpricks of tears pop up in his eyes. His tone became much softer as he continued. “You and Dad always tell me part of being a prince is kindness! And, well, this is one of those times I need to be kind.”

“Varian, you can’t just –”

“You didn’t see him Mom!” Varian insisted. “If he didn’t come with me, then I-I don’t know what would have happened to him! His parents and family weren’t anywhere to be seen and he didn’t have anyone else! What would you have done?”

Mom’s entire demeanor changed. For a second, she didn’t seem to be even in the room. Her eyes were glossy, and lips opened in a small, inaudible gasp. Something he had said had struck a chord deep in her, and he didn’t know what it was, just that it seemed to work because her next actions were the complete reverse of what she had been saying.

Mom let out a deep breath and hugged her arms across her chest. “He can stay.”

Her words were almost toneless, and they were very simple, so much so that at first, he didn’t believe it.

“What?” Varian asked quietly.

She gave a small, half-smile. “H-he can stay.”

He returned with his own bright smile, which Rudiger seemed to mimic and hugged his friend tightly. “Really?”

“If what you said was true, then he probably would’ve gotten hurt or worse,” Mom said. “And it’s easy to see you’ve bonded with him. It’d be cruel to tear you away from him or vice versa. So, he can stay.”

Varian’s cheeks were hurting from the smile he had at Mom’s decision. He pushed Rudiger up to rest on his shoulders and hugged Mom, her purple dress crinkling under his touch.

“Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!” Varian said in quick succession. Mom gave a softer embrace in return but pulled back, a somber expression in her blue eyes.

“But,” she solemnly said, before a slightly devious smile danced across her lips, “you have to be the one to tell your father about him.”

His excitement dampened a bit at that. Dad was going to be much harder to sell on this whole “let’s-keep-a-raccoon” thing, that was not secret. What if Dad decided that they did need to get rid of Rudiger? Mom was t _his_ close to having Rudiger thrust out of the castle grounds before deciding to let Varian keep him that, whose to say that Dad wouldn’t just simply kick him out?

But still, he couldn’t completely keep the happiness from seeping out of his heart. He had _two people_ on his side, which was a good thing!

^ **^** ^

Many people assumed that Varian would think of his father as two things – Dad and King, two separate halves of a whole. And sure, yeah, he could see that when his dad was working and when his dad was just Dad there were slight differences like the way he talked or his posture, but to Varian he had always just been _Dad._ Seeing Dad with a crown didn’t make him anymore a King or any less his father than he was without it.

Varian waited off to the side of the throne room, peeking through one of the sets of doors with Rudiger at his heels, still unseen behind the wooden door. Someone was speaking with Dad from the center of the room, Dad had been taking audiences pretty much all day and Varian wasn’t completely sure what it was the young woman was saying to Dad, the nerves in his stomach stealing away all his attention.

He gulped once and stepped back, looking down at Rudiger shyly.

“Okay, Rudiger,” Varian whispered, picking up Rudiger to hold him. “We just have to get Dad on board and we’re in the clear, okay?” Rudiger – who seemed to have rather selected understanding of what was going on – stared at Varian with a blank look, and he felt the sinking suspicion that he was close to alone on this one.

“Got any ideas?” Varian said anyway, and Rudiger continued his silent look. Varian sighed and slipped Rudiger onto his shoulders, so he could think more clearly.

He could wait here until the audiences ended and then tell Dad – which seemed like the most reasonable option – or he could try and get Mom and Cassandra to be his back-up, but Mom had been the one to tell him that he had to tell Dad and he didn’t want Cassandra pulled into this if things with Dad went south.

And Dad was going to be a hard enough sell to begin with, the last thing the argument needed was the fact that a seventeen year old lady of the court already knew and didn’t tell anyone. That was unlikely to warm Dad up to the prospect of keeping Rudiger.

Varian had all but decided he was going to wait when his plan was completely thrust out the window.

Their was a loud noise – one that years later Varian could only assume belonged to a slamming door – and all hell broke loose in the minutes after. Rudiger scampered off Varian’s shoulder in fear, running straight into the throne room without a second thought.

“Rudiger!” Varian hissed under his breath. Rudiger scampered to the center of the room but stopped when a woman seemed to step in front of him. Varian bit his lip nervously as the room burst into action, the collective realization that there was baby raccoon in the throne room covering the room like a panicked blanket.

A high-pitched scream cut through the room like a sword and soon all anyone could hear was a large cacophony of shrill and frenzied sounds. Rudiger – afraid – weaved his way through the people, trying to find a quick exit out of the devolving crowd. Varian burst into the room on instinct, going after Rudiger to try and calm him down.

“Varian?!” he heard Dad say behind him, but Varian paid it no mind.

“Rudiger!” Varian called, slipping his way through the people that had quickly scattered to try and get away from Rudiger. Rudiger either ignored or didn’t hear Varian, because he kept pushing forward and got lost in the crowd fairly quickly.

Varian hissed under his breath and kept making his way through the bodies with a nervous frown. Another squeal came, and Varian caught the sight of a tall man stepping backwards and away from Rudiger, pushing over a potted plant in his rush to get away which broke on the stone floor and spilled dirt and leaves.

Varian cringed at the sight but still made his way over to where Rudiger was. It didn’t matter, however, because Rudiger was already on the move. He scampered off to the side and clutched onto the magenta curtain in fear, burrowing himself half-way up the fabric.

“What if going on here?” Dad demanded from where he was now standing.

Varian once again ignored his father and went over to Rudiger was. Just as Varian reached the curtain, the rings on the curtains broke from the weight of holding onto the baby animal. Rudiger and the curtain fell down to the ground in a wave, covering Varian and a few of the other townspeople.

He pulled the curtain off with a frown as he looked for Rudiger in the piled fabric. He reached down and thrust the fabric in many directions as he tried to pick it up to find Rudiger in the mess of it all. He eventually managed to find Rudiger in the center, looking very frightened from all the excitement.

Varian gently picked him up and hugged him softly. “It’s okay, Rudiger. No one’s going to hurt you.”

The room was much quieter now, some of the people by the doors having left in the panic. But a few people were still in a panicked state as they were unaware of where the animal was currently residing in Varian’s arms and not still scampering around.

“ _Quiet!”_ Dad yelled, and the people all came under a hush. All stared up at Dad with frightened looks, while Varian tried his hardest to advert his gaze, knowing full well that Dad was searching for him in the crowd of people.

Dad took a calming breath and turned away, while Nigel motioned to the door.

“If everyone would please leave while we clean this mess, we’ll continue interviews in an hour,” Nigel said, leading everyone away. Varian, knowing full well how angry Dad was likely to be, tried to slip out with the rest. It seemed Dad was onto him however.

“Varian,” Dad said simply, which was all it took to stop Varian dead in his tracks. Nigel spared him a glance as he passed but said nothing to him.

Varian grit his teeth and turned around the second the door closed, still holding the much calmer Rudiger. Varian forced a smile and walked slowly towards where his father waited with an imposing frown and angry posture.

“Oh, uh, hi Dad,” Varian said casually. Dad took a breath through his noise with a frown, and Varian’s smile quickly disappeared.

“Varian,” Dad said in that quiet, angry voice Varian hated to hear, “Would you care to explain what happened here?”

Varian bit his lip and placed Rudiger on his shoulders. “Well, uh, a little while ago I helped this baby raccoon and he’s been staying here with me.”

“Baby raccoon? Here? With you?” Dad said in a strained voice.

Varian nodded his head with an anxious bounce. “Yes-yes, sir-sir. His-his name is-is Rudiger.”

Dad stepped towards him, walking down the three steps leading to the throne with a carefully guarded expression.

“So, you mean to tell me that you have been secretly harboring a scavenger, named him, and that this raccoon just frightened a section of the population after he accidently was let loose during interviews.” Dad raised an eyebrow. “Have I missed anything?”

“Well, uh, when-when you say it like-like that, it’s-it’s, uh, actually kind of funny,” Varian said, hoping to lighten the mood. Dad’s expression didn’t budge.

“Am I laughing Varian?” Dad said. Varian looked down at his feet. “Varian, why didn’t you tell me or your mother?”

Varian ringed his hands nervously. “I was scared that you would make me send him away.”

“It’s a dangerous animal, of course we would make you give him up!” Dad said.

“But, Dad, he’s so sweet and he’s never hurt anyone!” Varian said. Dad huffed and raised an arm towards the downed curtain and broken potted plant.

“Really? Because from where I’m standing, he just disrupted royal duties and created a huge mess! You have no idea how lucky you are no one was injured today!” Dad said. “I want him out of this castle, now.”

Varian’s head snapped to full attention and he felt Rudiger curl around his neck, his tail tickling his shoulder.

“But Dad –”

“No _buts_ Varian.” Dad crossed his arms stiffly. “He’s dangerous.”

Varian frowned stubbornly. “He’s my best friend! And Mom already said he could stay!”

Instead of bringing the argument to a close, his statement seemed to anger Dad more.

“You told your mother and yet hid this from me?” Dad said.

“Well, she’s – uh – she’s kind of only known for an hour or so,” Varian said quietly. Dad pinched the bridge of his noise.

“Regardless – you should have told us sooner!” Dad said. Varian huffed and folded his arms across his chest, his eyes shooting daggers at his father.

“But you just would have sent him away!” Varian argued. Dad’s eyes flashed with strong anger.

“ _I still can_!” Dad thundered. Varian took a step back and he felt Rudiger shiver. He had never heard talk so harshly before, not even to some less than cooperative dignitaries that had visited before. Varian always knew that trying to convince Dad might make him a little upset, but why was he so angry with him? He knew he lied, but he didn’t think Dad would get this angry.

Dad took another steadying breath and blinked a few times, a small amount of calmness seeming to flood his system.

“Seeing as your mother already said you could keep Rudiger, I won’t force you to part with him,” Dad said measuredly. Varian – even though he knew Dad was still upset with him – felt a smile tug at him. He got to keep Rudiger after all, that was a win no matter how he sliced it. “But as punishment for lying to me and your mother, you won’t be allowed to attend the Winter Solstice Celebration next month.”

Varian blinked rapidly. He had been looking forward to the Winter Solstice Celebration ever since the last one – it was the official kick-off of the holiday season in Corona. Landing just before Christmas every year, it was city-wide festival that lasted all the way past midnight. It was always marked with dancing and fun times for everyone – and he always felt so much energy around the Winter Solstice and it was the perfect outlet for all of it.

“But Dad, I love the Winter Solstice,” Varian said.

“You should have thought about that before you hid a wild animal,” Dad said. Varian felt anger bubble in him.

“But –”

“Not _another_ word Varian!” Dad scolded. Angry tears filled the bottom of Varian’s vision and made his sight fuzzy, the outline of his father becomes less defined.

“Fine! How about three?” Varian said. “I hate you!”

Dad’s expression changed, but Varian had turned away before he saw it long enough to name it. He stormed his way out of the room, gripping the handle of the door as tightly as he could and slammed the door behind him.

If he had turned around, he would have seen the hurt in his father’s eyes. But he didn’t, so he just thought that his Dad was angrier than he was before. And he also didn’t see the indent marks of his hand had gripped the door.

His father’s pain and his own abilities remained unseen. And that’s how it would be for a while longer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *rolls into room wearing sunglasses and a family-sized bag of Peanut M&Ms* Sorry I’m late. Candy?  
> Stuff went down yesterday so I couldn’t update, but here we are a day late. Please don’t kill me.   
> And as promised, a longer chapter! 
> 
> Also, a note on the indents and abilities part – I threw in that reference to his powers at like the last second because it had been while since I brought up his powers and didn’t want them all to come out of nowhere. He has slight enhanced strength and stamina during the winter, as they get closer to the Winter Solstice, and Rapunzel obviously has the same during the Summer Solstice. More will be divulged later on as they mysteries come up and are resolved, just wanted to give a little background.
> 
> Disclosure: I haven’t seen the premiere outside of a few clips, but from what I can tell some bombs got dropped that invalidated some of the backstory I’ve already showed for Quirin and Frederic in this story, as well as some of the magic with Varian. Instead of trying to rewrite to be complaint, I’m going to reveal in the AU-aspect of this story and just keep with The Protectors, Quirin’s characterization, and the Moonmist instead because if I did plot holes galore would pop up. So, this is NOT CANON COMPLAINT in terms of Quirin’s backstory and will follow it’s own path in terms of what is canon in this AU. Everybody cool with that?


	12. I Know You Didn't Mean It Though

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter summary: Frederic always kept his distance with Varian, but right now Frederic is all he has.
> 
> Note: This chapter contains references to a serious accident and descriptions of injuries. Does not delve anywhere near gore territory, but still, here’s a warning just in case.

It had been months since Varian had said those damned words, and yet Frederic couldn’t let them go.

_I hate you!_

Frederic knew deep down that Varian didn’t mean them, or at least Frederic has enough evidence to believe that he hadn’t meant them. Frederic was aware that he had taken the more distant approach to Varian when he was younger, but he had always made sure to be a firm and loving father to Varian.

It had been fair, what he had done. Varian had hidden a wild animal in the palace and lied about it, that was something that deserved a punishment. Varian loved the Winter Solstice Celebration, for reasons that Frederic suspected that Varian was unaware of in addition to being a kid who just liked having fun (and staying up past his bed time, something Frederic remembered as being a prize as a child). And when the punishment had come, Varian had accepted it and not went despite a finale plea to be able to.

Over time, Varian’s anger faded from the incident and within days, he had returned to the excited, infectious little boy he always was, just now with a furry companion. He was still that rambunctious presence that kept the castle from getting too somber – when it was nothing but adults hanging around an overly-decorated stone building, things tended to get boring pretty quickly.

Every time he saw Varian, Frederic’s mind flashed to that day in the throne room, Rudiger curled around his shoulders and an angry mask over Varian’s features. Saw that buried beneath a polite plea to pass the potatoes at dinner, heard it ringing in his ears whenever Varian attended interviews, which was happening with recurring frequency now that Varian was getting older.

_I hate you!_

Frederic wanted to let it go, he really did. Varian was still just a kid, with a kid’s sensibilities. Frederic didn’t hold it against Varian, he really didn’t, but still it was a moment that he always came back to.

 How had he let himself get to the point where he pushed Varian to say that? He shouldn’t have gotten so upset – all because he for a moment got jealous of that relationship Varian shared with Arianna? The second Varian had said that she had known, he had felt an unnatural envy and even after Varian said she had only known an hour, he had let that feeling influence how angry he was.

He knew how close they were and how distant he had made himself, but to have that relationship actualized by Varian’s own actions had hurt deep in his soul. It was a selfish pain and one he had brought on himself, but it still hurt.

During one quite moment of thought he had had even pulled out an old painting of Quirin, back from those old days when he had been aligned with The Protectors. Quirin looked so young in the drawing and he felt his heart clench at the thought that he had never really gotten the chance to age beyond that.

If Frederic were to simply look between the painting of Quirin and the little boy just down the hall, he would be hard-pressed to find any physical similarities between the two. But in so many ways, he could see pieces of Quirin in the puzzle that made up Varian – that bursting curiosity, intense compassion, even their intelligence was just the start of the things Varian had received from his father.

Frederic was trying to be a father to Varian, he really was, but perhaps not as hard as he should have. A selfish need to protect himself had resulted in a selfish pain.

He looked into the painted eyes of his friends and wondered what Quirin would have done. He had no doubt Quirin had been a loving father to Varian in the short time they were together and done everything to keep him safe, going as far as to send him away when there was danger, with no promise that he would have been accepted. In those final days, Quirin’s thoughts were on Varian.

A knock at the door of his study broke his concentration. He blinked and turned to look at the door.

“Who’s there?” he asked.

“Hey, Dad, it’s me,” Varian said through the door, voice slightly muffled. “I wanted to ask you something.”

“Oh, uh, yes, come in, come in,” Frederic said, shoving the small painting back in the corner draw of his desk. Varian quickly slipped through the door, Rudiger right at his heels. Frederic noted this with amusement – Varian hadn’t been lying when he had said that Rudiger was his best friend. Everywhere Varian went, the raccoon was hot on his trail.

“Hey Dad,” Varian said, eyes bright and with a smile.

_I hate you!_

“Good morning Varian,” Dad said, voice wavering below normal.

Varian played with his fingers, something he only did when he was nervous. “I wanted to ask you if it was okay if I went out into the village today?”

Frederic nodded his head. “Oh-yes, yes, of course.”

Varian blinked in surprise. “Really? Wow.”

Frederic tilted his head to the side in confusion. At his look, Varian continued.

“Well, I’m allowed out once a week and I already went on Tuesday, plus Mom isn’t here, so I thought you were goanna say no.”

Frederic had forgotten for a moment that Arianna had been in Terran for the past two weeks to discuss a trade treaty with King Eric and Queen Ariel, and that they tended to try and keep Varian out of the village when one of them was gone. He was just past the age of ten, so sending him out their – no matter how long or short a period it was – was a risk simply from his age, not taking into account that he was technically a prince of Corona.

But still, Frederic didn’t see the harm in letting him go for an hour or two.

“Don’t worry,” Frederic said, “go on ahead.”

Varian smiled and clapped his hands excitedly. “Thanks Dad!”

“But,” Frederic interjected, “you need to be back in two hours, okay?”

“Yes sir!” Varian said, already on the way out of the door, Rudiger running behind him. “Bye Dad! Love you!”

_I hate you!_

The door shut behind Varian with a thud and Frederic was thrust back into silence.

^ **^** ^

“The crop reports from Old Corona seems to suggest that an above average season is to be expected this year….” Nigel was saying, even though Frederic was finding it really hard to listen to the man. There were only so many different versions of the same things over and over again before he felt like he had heard it all – and he had reached that point about an hour ago when Nigel had brought up the Old Corona crop reports from _last year._

As if he hadn’t looked at them back when they first arrived last year.

Frederic leaned back in his chair and leaned his cheek on his closed fist, fighting the urge to doze off. He enjoyed being King and took all his duties seriously – he truly did – but at times it could be a complete _bore._

“…..so if Queen Arianna’s treaty goes through, we should have more than enough supplies to last into the next two winters, Your Majesty. Your Majesty? _Your Majesty?!”_

Frederic blinked and sat back up in his chair, hands falling slack onto the rests of the chair. Nigel was standing across the room, peeking over the papers in his hands as he stood against the book shelves of Frederic’s study.

“Oh, um, yes, yes, that’s excellent,” Frederic said. Nigel pursued his lips but didn’t offer any argument to what he said, probably choosing to ignore his slight disinterest over calling out the king.

The advisor eventually shrugged and picked out a sheet to hand to Frederic, which he took with little protest.

“This letter from Queen Arianna arrived earlier today,” Nigel said. “It appears things are going well.”

Frederic scanned over the letter with a bit more interest and was delighted to see that King Eric and Queen Ariel were close to signing the agreement. It would be a huge boost to Corona and Terran’s economy, which in turn would spread to their neighbors in turn, while also insuring their people were cared for into the near future.

But Frederic did have to stifle a laugh when he got to a paragraph recounting when Arianna first met the young Melody, the King and Queen’s young daughter. Melody had apparently been trying to discreetly hide a crab she called Sebastian all through dinner, but at ten years old, it had seemed she hadn’t hidden it well enough and Arianna had managed to catch a peak or two of the crustacean.

Did all young children take pleasure in keeping secret pets? First Varian and his raccoon and now Melody and this crab. He hoped when Eric and Ariel find out – if they didn’t know already – that Sebastian didn’t cause a scene like Rudiger had.

“Well, here’s to hoping that she succeeds soon,” Frederic said. “She’s been missed for the past two weeks.”

That perhaps was the understatement of the century. Varian had been asking nearly two to three times a day since Arianna left when she was coming back and been writing letters at the beginning of nightfall telling her about all the things going on in Corona. It had taken much convincing from Frederic to get him to agree that about ten letters a week were a bit too much. So last week he only sent nine.

But Frederic missed Arianna too, so he hadn’t exactly been too strict regarding the letters. Arianna was a special presence around the castle – a kind light that made everyone feel a bit better. She was doing good work, but still he hoped she returned soon.

Nigel coughed once under his breath and put the papers down on the desk. He seemed to be on the edge of saying something that he wasn’t all that sure of, judging by the anxious look in his eyes.

“If this alliance were to go through,” Nigel said, voice tittering around hesitant, “it might be wise to consider a betr–”

The door was thrust open in a flash with no warning, and a guard was standing there with a concerned and frightened look. Immedailty, Frederic sprang into action, standing from his chair and crossing over to the young man.

“Your Majesty, please come with me, it’s urgent!” the guard said, pointing with his head down the hallway. The guard hadn’t bothered with an apology for interrupting or even give a name which was another mark in the category that something must have been wrong aside from the young man’s words.

“Excuse me,” Nigel said, hands akimbo, “but the King is in the middle of a very important –”

“I know and I’m sorry,” the guard said, not missing a beat. “But please, Your Majesty, it’s the prince! He’s injured!”

Frederic was aware of Nigel’s slight intake of breath and the guard’s pleading expression, and at the same time he couldn’t be pressed to remember if he tried. The space around ceased to exist and nothing was important and yet everything was here and real and important.

_Varian. Varian was hurt._

“Where?” Frederic finally managed to say.

“He’s been moved to his room,” the guard said. He began to say something else, but Frederic didn’t hear it. He sprang forward and past the guard, leaving the room and it’s two occupants behind him.

_Varian. Varian was hurt._

^ **^** ^

Varian’s room didn’t look like Varian’s room.

Which was strange, because it was, in fact, Varian’s room. His Tinkering Table was still in it’s normal spot, books strewn on shelves and tables, even Rudiger was in his usual spot on one of Varian’s pillows. But instead of peacefully sleeping next to his son’s own tired face, the raccoon looked almost concerned as Varian’s face was in a restless slumber, sweat beading the young prince’s face.

The raccoon’s face and Varian’s sleep were just the beginning of things that had Frederic questioning if he had chosen the wrong room on accident. A bloodied bandage was wrapped around Varian’s collar bone and his blanket pulled away to the edge of the bed were the next items on that list, followed by the appearance of the doctor and medical items.

Th doctor – who had tried to kick out Rudiger before Frederic had quickly shut down the idea because _“He loves that raccoon more than anything.”_ – stood beside Frederic at his bedside, beginning to lay out new bandages to replace the old ones who were drenched in scarlet.

Nigel was wavering somewhere nearby in concern. Even if Varian and the advisor had a bit of complicated history, Frederic wasn’t clueless enough to think that Nigel didn’t have some sort of affection for Varian.

One second. That’s all it had taken. Varian had looked back to wave goodbye to Monty and then a cart had hit him straight on.

The doctor had said that Varian was lucky, that the injuries weren’t that serious. A broken arm – which was in a sling as he slept – and a gash along his collar bone. And considering all the life-threatening injuries he had seen, inflicted, and felt during his short tenure with The Protectors, it was no where near the worst wound he had seen.

But he’d be damned if this one wasn’t the most heartbreaking to see.

“Is their any infection?” Nigel asked, Frederic having been shocked into silence from the second he had entered the room.

The doctor shook his head and reached across to pull off the bandages.

“No, the wound was cleaned before any could set in,” the doctor said. His voice was calm and normal and just wanted to make Frederic scream. The bandages were pulled back one at a time in complete silence and Frederic fought not to lost it at the sight of the still-open defacement.

It wasn’t a nice wound at all and went far beyond his collar bone as Frederic had thought, or rather hoped. It started just below where his right shoulder met his arm and traced diagonally across his chest to where it stopped in the center of his chest, lining almost completely with the middle of his rib cage. The wound seemed to be no longer gushing blood, but remnants of it remained on his skin in splotches of red and brown before the doctor wiped them away. How had Varian not received at least one broken rib in this exchange?

It seemed that his son had been lucky indeed.

The wound began to disappear behind the dressings and Frederic heard his own breath release.

“The fever,” Frederic said suddenly.

Both men blinked, and he could have sworn Rudiger did too.

“Sir?” Nigel asked.

“The fever,” Frederic repeated again, not looking away from Varian. “Will the fever ki –” He swallowed thickly. “How dangerous is this fever?”

The doctor nodded his head in understanding before shaking his head.

“A slight fever is to be expected from an injury like this,” the doctor explained. “It should fade soon, and I don’t expect it will be fatal to the prince.” The doctor looked back at Varian, unsure, and turned back to Frederic with a frown. “But I would advise to keep an eye on him, at least for the next couple of hours.”

That did little to make him feel better, but still, it was better than nothing. Frederic gave a slight nod and stepped closer to Varian. The fresh set of bandages were much cleaner than the past one and his broken arms was resting against his uninjured side of his chest, a sling carefully grafted around his left shoulder.

“Thank you,” Frederic said to the doctor. The doctor gave another nod.

“I’ve given him something to relieve the pain, it should wear off by morning,” he said. “It’ll make him tired and a bit…dazed for the next little while.”

Frederic said something, but he wasn’t sure what it was. The doctor stepped away to leave and Frederic thought he heard him and Nigel say something to each other, but he truthfully didn’t care. Frederic’s eyes traveled to Varian’s face and he tried to block it, he really did, when ---

_I hate you!_

Frederic shook his head to clear his mind. That didn’t matter now. It didn’t really mater anytime.

Varian’s breath changed and his brow furrowed, and Frederic couldn’t tell if he was waking. The boy had been restless in his sleep after all, so it was possible he was just shifting. But then his crystal eyes started to peek open and Frederic knew he was waking.

Rudiger was the first to react, clamoring to reach out to pet Varian’s face in a way Frederic read as comforting, and so naturally he was the first thing Varian in turn reacted to.

“Rud-Rudiger?” Varian asked, voice hoarse. He reached to pet Rudiger on instinct but winced at the pain, pulling back his hand with a frown.

“Be careful son,” Frederic said. Varian’s gaze turned to Frederic and just from the look, Frederic could tell that Varian was still under the pain relief daze. His eyes had a glazy, almost far off look that was uncommon to Varian.

“Da-dad?” Varian said. Frederic smiled comfortingly at him and leaned down on his knees to meet his eyes at equal level. Varian took in a sharp intake of breath and shifted slightly on his back.

“Dad, it _hurts_ ,” Varian said. The hair on the back of Frederic’s stood on end from how vulnerable he sounded. Frederic reached down to take Varian’s hand from the uninjured arm.

“I know,” Frederic said softly. Varian looked over at where Rudiger was still pawing at him softly to make sure he was okay, eyes still misty. Varian’s eyes caught Frederic and surprise filled them.

“Rudiger! Dad’s here!” Varian said. “He can’t see you!”

Frederic felt a spark of confusion before remembering that Varian was still under the pain relief remedy. Part of the side effects had been dazed, so it was possible that meant part of Varian’s memory was fuzzy.

“Varian,” Frederic said, a chortle hidden in his voice, “I already know about Rudiger. Remember? You told me about him?”

_I hate you!_

“Oh, yeah!” Varian whispered to himself. “At least Cassie doesn’t have to lie anymore…”

Cassie? Oh, yes, Cassandra, the daughter of the Captain. She had known too? Never mind, that was unimportant.

Varian’s eyes widened.

“I didn’t mean it!” Varian tried to set up, but only got a shot of pain and wince for his trouble. Frederic gently pushed him back towards his pillow, which Varian did will little protest.

“What didn’t you mean, son?” Frederic asked kindly.

“I – I said, that I,” Varian said, between a yawn, “hated you.  And I didn’t mean it, Dad!  I don’t hate you!”

_I hate you!_

Frederic tried his best to ignore that surge in his heart. “I know, I know, son.”

Varian’s eyes began to droop, and he was yawning more now. “I didn’t – I didn’t mean it.”

“I know you didn’t,” Frederic assured him.

Varian’s eyes drifted to sleep, Rudiger frowning in confusion and curling into the boy’s side. “I love you Dad.”

“I love you too, Varian,” Frederic said, although he was sure that Varian couldn’t hear how soft his tone was.

“Tell Nigel that I-“Varian yawned again, “that I don’t hate him either. He’s alright.”

“He’s alright?” Frederic asked, not able to contain his laugh.

Varian nodded his head weakly, but his restless slumber returned before he could say anything else. Frederic’s smile faded, not letting go of Varian’s hand. He was in pain and half-mad from pain, fever, and medication, but still Varian had been sure to tell him that he didn’t hate him. Frederic wasn’t sure what to say, what to feel, what to do, but he knew that he couldn’t leave. Not right now.

He looked to see that Nigel and the doctor had left, and he felt no need to go after to them. He could send for the doctor again if Varian took a turn for the worst and there wasn’t much Nigel would be able to do at the present moment. Although he did have half a mind to get Nigel to tell him that Varian thought he was alright.

Frederic sighed and stood, letting go of Varian’s hands for a moment. He retrieved a chair from the corner of the room and brought it back to the side of Varian’s bed. Frederic resettled himself and prepared himself for the next couple of hours.

It was going to be a long night. But Varian needed someone to watch him right now.

_I hate you!_

_I didn’t mean it!_

Looks like that someone was him.

Varian mumbled something in his sleep and Rudiger tittered something in response. Frederic smiled.

He didn’t mind if it was him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special thanks to Megan Guess for suggesting Frederic and Arianna look after a sick Varian way back in the very beginning of this fic. That suggestion got tweaked a little to fit the character arcs, but I hope you enjoyed it. 
> 
> This was supposed to be the ten-year-old arc I talked about, but it got covered in one chapter, so we should move on to age twelve next, because honestly we just need a breather from the drama and angst and that adventure is lot less heavy on the emotions (at least from the point-of-view of Varian, Frederic, and Arianna).
> 
> Hope you guys liked this chapter, and have a blessed week! Love y'all!
> 
> \-- Princess Chess


	13. Time For Someone Different

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Summary: It’s Varian’s birthday, but with guests arriving it seems he’s spending it with a complete stranger.

_It’s warm in the forest._

_He’s sitting on the grass, legs crossed and the girl with gold hair is staring across from him with a confused look. She appears older than him, closer in age to Cassandra. Varian can’t remember where he might have seen this girl before, yet she seemed so familiar. Next to them was a large pond littered liberally with lily pads and frogs hiccupping._

_Her hair was long – really long. It trailed around them in spirals and hooked on tree branches, but the most striking thing is the fact that her hair was glowing with bright, golden light._

_“Your hair…” he said simply._

_“Your eyes…” she whispered. Varian furrowed his brow and looked over into the lake to find his iris’s glowing a pale, neon light shades darker than his usual eye color._

_“I don’t understand,” Varian said finally, turning back to look at her. “Where are we? Who are you?”_

_The girl shrugged and tried to say something, but there was a loud boom that sounded like thunder. Both of them winced at the sound and eyes widened in fear._

_“Is a storm coming?” the girl asked. Varian shook his head and looked up to the sky._

_“The sky seems to be pretty clear,” Varian said, “and none of the clouds seem to be of nimbus composition, although –”_

_“Interesting,” a deep voice said. Varian felt the skin on his arm prickle. The voice was creepy and unsettling, made only worse by the fact that he didn’t know where it came from._

_“Hell-hello?” the girl said, looking around to find the source. “Where are you?”_

_“I am Fate,” the voice said. “And I am_ everywhere.” _A shadow suddenly appeared from nothingness and into the bright sunlight came a tall figure with ashy skin and dark, black clothes. Varian gasped at the sight of the sword in the figure’s hand and jumped to his feet, backing away._

_The girl turned around to look and rose to her feet as well, a tiny shriek escaping her lips. She couldn’t move very far however, because her hair got caught on a lurking tree branch. She reached to yank it free and Varian grabbed a few strands as well to help get her free. This man (?) was off-putting and pulled at a deep fear in him – he couldn’t leave her here with whatever it was._

_The shadowy figure gave a smile from lips that looked to be painted in charcoal. The smile was strange much like the rest of them – caught between a smirk and a comforting expression. They raised a gloved hand._

_“Do not worry, Daughter of Sun and Son of Moon, I am not going to harm you,” the figure said, voice no longer unsettling, but instead a soft and comforting one._

_“Then-then why are you here?” Varian asked. “Why-why are we here?”_

_That challenging smirk returned, and they stepped forward, and he heard the girl take in a breath in fear._

_“I am Fate,” the figure said again. “And I am_ everywhere.”

**_EVERYWHERE._ **

Varian scram, shooting up in bed. Fear rattled his brain and his head was lined with sweat, but once again he remembered little more than nothing. The feeling of the sun, a sword, a sharp intake of fear, and something about fate. Nothing made sense, even if he moments ago he may have understood it.

Rudiger jumped onto his lap within a second of the scream, being close by on one of his pillows. Rudiger had continued sleeping the same bed as Varian even if he had long since outgrown his days as a baby despite Nigel’s constant insisting that “ _at least don’t let the animal sleep where you do!”._ But Varian was grateful that he did, because nearly every week he was waking up with these strange and fleeting dreams.

Rudiger tilted his head to the side and Varian automatically knew what he was asking, even if they didn’t speak the same language. _Are you okay? What’s wrong?_

“Hey Rudiger,” Varian said softly, petting the concerned animal’s head. “I’m fine. Just those weird dreams again. Nothing to remember.” He sighed and leaned back against his pillow. “As usual.”

It was infuriating. Waking up in these tizzies with no way of knowing what he saw in those dreams. He knew it was normal for people to have night terrors, which was just about the only thing he could find with a description for what he had even if it didn’t exactly line up, but something felt so different about these. Why did he even have them in the first place?

And why couldn’t he remember them? He was doubtful that they were anything important – after all, dreams weren’t anything that related to things in real life, at least more than a hope or fear. For an alchemist _(“Which I am, don’t give me that look, Cass.”)_ , that desire to have all the variables greatly played with this fact that he didn’t know what he was dreaming and made his mornings miserable.

But _not_ this morning. He wouldn’t let it ruin his birthday.

Varian smiled and sat back up, picking up Rudiger so that he could look him directly in the eyes.

“Okay, Rudiger,” Varian said, smiling wide. “It’s my birthday. You know what that means – no lessons or anything!” Varian quickly hopped out of bed, his feet cold against the floor but he was so happy he didn’t even care, clutching Rudiger to his chest and making his way over to his Tinkering Table. “Which means more time for experiments!”

Rudiger jumped onto the Tinkering Table once they were close enough. Rudiger had long since adopted to sitting on the table even when Varian was working on it, but luckily the raccoon had enough sense to run away when there was an explosion (which happened more than Varian would like to admit).

Varian pulled open one of the curtains, casting a bright sunny glow across the room. The sun was already risen – it seemed he had slept later than usual. He liked to be up around sunrise, not after. There were so many hours in a day and he liked to use all of them.

He smiled into the sunlight and hurried back over to the table.

“Okay, so what should we do first?” Varian picked up his journal and began riffling through to find the perfect thing.

“We could try that flower growth experiment?” Varian said. Rudiger crinkled his noise. Varian nodded and returned to his journal. “Your right. Would take too long.” He flipped a page and raised an eyebrow.

“How about the super salt versus regular salt flammability test?” Rudiger blinked. Varian rolled his eyes. “Once again, your right. Last time I tried that Nigel didn’t have eyebrows for two months.”

He shut the book with a sigh and slipped into a chair, leaning his head on his palm. He needed the perfect experiment for today – for once he could preform one without any interruptions for lessons. It was frustrating whenever he was mid-examination of a snow sample only to have Nigel come collect him for a music lesson. Because, sorry, but the works of Salieri and Mozart would never wow him like the observations he made.

Just about the only thing that he had was that party tonight, but he was just going to try and get out of it anyway. They were only doing it because of some political nonsense that Varian really didn’t care about, Dad saying something along the lines that it was supposed to be his first real introduction as a royal which didn’t make any sense to Varian because he had been a prince for _twelve years_ so come on, they must’ve caught on that he existed by now.

But of course, on today of all days, he couldn’t come up with a single thing to do! He shook his head harshly to try and kickstart _some_ idea but of course came up with nothing. He growled under his breath and stood up, tucking his journal under his arm and collecting Rudiger to let him hang around his shoulders.

“You have any ideas, buddy?” Varian asked. Rudiger just curled around his neck. Varian frowned. “Guess twelve means having no idea what to do.”

A soft knock came from the door. “Varian?”

Varian smiled wide and rushed to thrust open the door to find his mom waiting on the other side.

“Good morning Mom!” Varian greeted brightly, his two front buck teeth showing. Mom smiled in turn and reached to ruffle his hair.

“Good morning, bluebird,” Mom said. “Happy birthday.” Mom reached to embrace him, his head up to just below her shoulder. Varian always used to be small for his age, but last summer he had a massive growth spurt that had him shoot up to Mom’s shoulder in height. Even despite, Mom still continued using the name ‘bluebird’ for him.

“Thanks Mom!” Varian said, returning the hug.

She smirked and led him outside the room, shutting the door. They fell into step and stared walking with Rudiger still around Varian’s shoulder.

“So, you’re twelve years old now, huh?” Mom asked, raising an eyebrow. “How do you feel?”

Varian considered the answer for a moment before just giving a shrug. “Same as age eleven, honestly.”

Mom rolled her eyes. “If I remember correctly, didn’t you say age eleven was the same as age ten?”

Varian shrugged. “Well, I mean it.”

Mom gave a quiet laugh but then sobered a little bit, still not dropping her smile. “Varian, I wanted to talk to you about something.”

“Oh, um, okay, go ahead, I’m all ears,” Varian said. Mom took a breath.

“After breakfast, me and your father are greeting some of the foreign guests arriving for the party tonight,” Mom said. “I was hoping that you might join us.”

Varian stopped. He never had duties on his birthday. It sounded stupid and made him seem spoiled, but still, it was the one day he was allowed to be just Varian.

Mom put a hand on his shoulder.

“They’re coming all this way for your birthday,” Mom said. “It would be rude if you weren’t there.”

That made sense. It really did – Mom and Dad had instilled in him since he was a little kid that it was never okay to be rude. But still, it was his birthday.

The polite side eventually won out and he nodded with a reluctant smile. “Of-of course I’ll be there, Mom. They did come for my birthday.”

There went any chance of him getting out of his party, because he couldn’t very well just skip out a party after welcoming them to the kingdom. But, then again, it made Mom break out into a smile.

And nothing was better than Mom’s smile.

^ **^** ^

Corona was _strange,_ Melody decided.

Melody had been in the kingdom a grand total of about two hours and yet she could already tell that it was very different from Terran. A castle and a village was separate from the rest of the land, which was connected by a bridge. That wasn’t anything like Terran, where it was just one large land mass.

Melody shifted in the carriage and gripped the seashell locket around her neck. Even after the adventure with Morgana, she had kept with the locket. It was her connection to her Atlantcia roots when she wasn’t in the ocean and right now she needed a little comfort on her first trip out of Terran.

“Melody, sweetie,” Mom said, placing a kind hand on Melody’s own, “don’t be nervous.”

Melody rolled her eyes. “I’m not nervous.”

“She’s totally nervous,” Dad said across from her, a smile in his eyes.

“I’m _not,”_ Melody insisted stubbornly, crossing her arms. Mom smiled and blew a strand of her scarlet hair out of her eyes.

“Melody, it’s okay if you are,” Mom said. The carriage hit a slight bump and the three of them shifted from the impact. “This is your first time out of Terran.”

“Well, your first time that doesn’t involve a sea witch,” Dad said. Melody laughed once at her father. Running off in the middle of the night only to tricked by a crazed sea witch in the artic hadn’t been a smart decision, but somehow it felt less nerve-wrecking than her first royal outing out of Terran.

“ _Eric.”_ Mom gave a slight admonishment to her husband, looking out of the corner of her eye. Dad raised his hands in surrender and leaned back in his seat. Mom returned to Melody with a smile.

“It’s just a birthday party,” Mom soothed, caressing the side of her face softly. “You’ll be fine. Besides, Prince Varian is around your age. Who knows? You two just might get along.”

Melody tried his hardest not to scoff. She had just a few months ago at her own birthday won over the young people of Terran. That had taken twelve years and literal intervention by the King of the Ocean. How would she win over a friend in two days?

She wished Sebastian was here. She could always talk to him, but he had moved back to Atlantcia after the wall had went down between land and sea. And while it was great he could return home, it left her friendless on this trip.

The carriage came to a halt suddenly, slinging the three around the compartment again. Dad moved to push aside the curtains on the window and smiled, replacing the curtain and reaching for the door.

“Looks like we’re about to find out,” Dad said. Melody took a deep breath to steady herself and she felt Mom squeeze her hand comfortingly. Mom gave her one last smile.

“You’ll do great,” Mom whispered under her breath. Melody gave a small nod and shifted in her seat. Dad opened the door with one last meaningful look, and the three of them quickly made their way outside into the front courtyard of the Corona castle, the ground beneath cobblestones.

“Presenting the royal family of Terran: King Eric, Queen Ariel, and Princess Melody,” a man with a red coat and a brown ponytail.

Melody cast her glance across the Coronan royals, immedailty recognizing the slender, brunette form of Queen Arianna. She had met her two years ago when Queen Arianna had visited for a trade agreement and she seemed nice. King Frederic caught her eye next, who was tall and stocky with salted brunet hair and a smile. He didn’t seem like he would hurt anyone, but he looked imitating enough that Melody really didn’t want to mess with him.

She finally looked at the nervous-looking Prince Varian, who looked really unsure in a silver crown. He like her had raven hair but had a bright blue streak of hair running in his bangs. He gave her a smile, revealing two slightly bucked teeth. His smile seemed welcoming, but also was a bit anxious. It appeared he wasn’t all that used to greeting new people.

And call her crazy, but she could have sworn she saw a raccoon out of the corner of her eye before it scurried away.

Mom quickly moved to hug Queen Arianna, who accepted the movement with no protest.

“Arianna, it’s so wonderful to see you again,” Mom said earnestly. Queen Arianna smiled.

“I feel the same way,” Queen Arianna said with a smile. Dad moved to shake hands with King Frederic and the two said something in quiet tones.

Queen Arianna locked eyes with Melody and smiled even wider. “Melody, it’s a pleasure seeing you again.”

Melody gave a slight curtsy. “The pleasure’s all mine, Queen Arianna.”

Queen Arianna laughed. “Like I said when I visited, please, call me Arianna.”

“Well, either way, it’s nice to see you again, Your Majesty,” Melody said. No matter how much Arianna insisted, Melody wasn’t quite able to call an adult by their first name to their face.

Melody looked over to where Prince Varian was standing nervously, and she looked back at him anxiously as well, neither making the motion to come closer.

Melody felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see Dad smiling at her.

“ _Go on,”_ Dad whispered quietly. Melody blinked and stepped forward nervously, which Prince Varian returned after looking his own mother who it seemed had urged him forward too.

Melody gave a slight curtsey towards him. “I’m Princess Melody.”

Prince Varian’s nervous smile returned and gave a bow. “I’m Prince Varian.” He straightened up and rubbed the back of his neck. “But you can call me just Varian, if you want.”

Melody gave a slight giggle at how nervous he was. “Okay. You can call me Melody then.”

Mom and Arianna shared a knowing smile, but then Arianna stepped forward to place a hand on Varian’s shoulder.

“Melody, since you’ll be staying with us,” Arianna said, “I was thinking that Varian could give you a tour of the castle, since you two can get to know each other.”

Varian looked like this was news to him and he turned to his mom in surprise. Melody blinked in surprise and turned to her parents for some kind of sign of what to say. Both gave her eager nods, and their comment about Varian maybe being her friend came to mind.

She swallowed thickly and nodded her head, nervous butterflies in her stomach. “Oh, um, sure okay.”

Varian’s smile was more nervous than it was before, and Melody wasn’t sure what to make of that. She flicked a strand of her raven bangs out of her eyes.

It seemed a nervous prince was another reason that Corona was strange.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we’ve met the Terran gang! I’ve been waiting for this for a long time. 
> 
> In case anyone doesn’t know, Melody is the main character of The Little Mermaid 2: Return to the Sea and the daughter of Ariel and Eric. I’m not going to assume all of you have seen it, so the events will be recapped by Melody in a story to Varian in the next chapter or two. 
> 
> This picks up about four or five months after the events of Melody’s film, just for a frame of mind. 
> 
> This came early because this week-end is going to be super busy -- I'm working and also trying to do vacation at the same time but I wanted to give you guys something new. ;) Y'all have a blessed time till we meet again!
> 
> \-- Princess Chess


	14. Can You Show Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Summary: Varian wasn’t never really good at the making friends thing. Apparently, Melody isn’t either.

“So, um,” Varian said in the front foyer, clapping his hands together awkwardly, “are you ready?”

Melody shrugged and looked around the brightly colored room. “I guess. Beats the welcoming stuff.”

All the adults that had come – which Varian didn’t seem to understand because he didn’t know a s _ingle one of them_ and it was _his birthday_ – had gone off to the throne room for some kind of adult thing where they talk about all that stuff that no one ever answers honestly, like how your mother is and if you’re doing well. And of the one or two he had attended, every time he had been almost bored to tears from all the old people asking him the same questions over and over again. It seemed that Melody felt the same, because she had immedailty told both of their parents she was going on that tour now.

“Well, uh,” Varian said awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck, “I guess I don’t really know where to start.”

Melody laughed under her breath. “How about the beginning?”

Varian snorted in return. “Well, I guess-I guess you have me there.” He looked up and around the room, then looked back at Melody. “This is Corona castle. It’s well, uh, my home.” Melody nodded once and began to walk towards the hallway with Varian.

He pointed down a hallway just off the main one, which was stationed with multiple guards of many different nations along with the familiar Corona red and gold ones.

“These are the guest rooms, which is where you’ll be staying actually,” Varian said. Melody nodded and caught the eye of two guards dressed in blue and green, whom Melody waved at as they passed. The two gave a smile in turn but didn’t move; they must be guards traveling with the Terran family.

The two came up on a large set of doors in the center of the hall which Varian motioned too weakly.

“This is the library,” Varian said. They slipped inside, and Varian felt that same wonder from when he was a little boy. Even as he had grown he hadn’t quite lost that love of the library. It’s where his love for science and alchemy had started, and even to this day he could count on something surprising him here in these shelves. Melody, however, didn’t look all that impressed.

 “It’s the most expansive collection in all of Corona,” Varian said. “I’d wager the world even.”

Melody snorted and crossed her arms, her golden locket hidden behind them. “This isn’t even _close_ to the size of the one back home.”

 “No way.”

Melody nodded. “ _Way.”_

Varian put his hands on his hips. “Well, the Corona library is still better!”

Melody rolled her eyes and walked past him, looking over the shelves with slight interest. “In what world?”

“This one,” Varian said simply, following after her stubbornly. Melody looked over her shoulder with a raised brow.

“Oh really?” Melody asked, a mischievous twinkle in her eye.

“Yes, _really!”_ Varian said stubbornly. “I mean – we have the entirety of the Flynnigan Ryder books!”

Melody’s brows knitted together in confusion.

“Flynnigan Ryder?” Melody asked. “Who’s that?”

Varian sucked in a breath. “You…. don’t…. know?”

Melody shook her head and Varian’s system flooded with outrage.

“Okay, that’s it, Corona wins by default!” Varian said, marching past Melody. Melody made no motion to follow him as he walked over to a bookshelf, putting her hands on her hips.

“I don’t understand. Who’s Flynnigan Ryder?” Melody asked. Varian pulled down one of the many books that had Flynnigan’s names written across it, the cover familiar beneath his fingers.

“Only the best, most adventurous, coolest, and all-around most awesome person ever!” Varian said, holding the book out to her. “I’ve read all the books at least ten times each!”

Melody took the book from him critically to look at the cover – this one had Flynnigan riding on a boat across a river, a sparkle in his painted eyes as he looked out at something the reader couldn’t.

“Yeah, okay, sure,” Melody said, hand trailing down the spine detailing the title _Flynnigan Ryder and the Ocean Adventure_. “But why are you acting like it’s a moral failing that I haven’t read them?”

“Because it is,” Varian deadpanned. Melody’s head snapped up at his words in annoyance, sticking out her tongue at him. Varian laughed and stepped forward, pushing the book closer to her.

“Seriously! They’re amazing – _better_ than amazing!” Varian said enthusiastically. “At least read this one! It’s the best – he goes on this awesome ocean-wide trip where he has to travel across the sea to find an old amulet!”

Melody laughed under her breath. “Ocean adventure, you say?”

“Why is that so funny?” Varian asked, pursuing his lips.

Melody’s eyes shifted, and her smile widened even more. It was that same look Cassandra got when she knew something that he didn’t – a bright and impish light hidden in their eyes and lips turned in a way that couldn’t be replicated on any other expression.

“Oh, no reason,” Melody said. Her words were casual enough, but her tone was far from light. Varian, who always hated being on the opposite end of secrets, crossed his arms stubbornly.

“ _What?”_ Varian asked again.

_“Well,”_ Melody said slyly, turning away from him, “it’s just it doesn’t sound like that much of an “ocean adventure” to just go find an amulet.”

Varian, visibly fuming, followed her as they re-entered the hallway, the book hugged to Melody’s chest. He huffed under his breath and stepped in front of her to block her path. Varian gave her a frown, but Melody still looked at him with that puckish grin.

“Oh, really?” Varian demanded.

“ _Really,”_ Melody said, splaying a hand across her chest dramatically. “I’ve heard far better stories about “ocean adventures”.” She made hand quotations around the words “ocean adventures”, which only seemed to poke right at him.

Varian bit the inside of his cheek to keep from saying something rude. Melody’s grin turned to a smirk and she looked around the hallway before leaning closer to him.

“In fact,” she whispered, “I’ve _went on_ my own daring oceanic journey – and it was far better than anything this Flynnigan Ryder ever went on!”

“No way,” Varian said. He refused to believe that a twelve-year-old princess could have gone on a better adventure than the roguish adventurer Flynnigan Ryder, never mind the fact that Flynnigan Ryder wasn’t _real._  

(Well, there was that _one guy_ Dad told him about who apparently was a thief and shared the name – but that was neither here nor there.)

“ _Way,”_ Melody said, one hand reaching to clutch her golden seashell locket. “Mine had mermaids and witches and so many awesome things – things that far exceed just simply going to get a _locket_ back!”

“Mermaids? Witches?” Varian scoffed. “Oh, _please._ Everyone knows that mermaids and witches aren’t real.”

As a ~~man~~ boy of alchemy, he didn’t fancy all the supernatural and magical creatures everyone seemed to be so intrigued with. Unicorns and fairies didn’t serve any purpose really – just about the only thing he would concede was _real_ was the Sunflower that saved Mom and Rapunzel’s lives, and that was only because _there was proof_ of that. But mermaids? Oh, that was a whole a new game, something there was no evidence to illustrate existence.

But Melody seemed unfazed by this, only smiling wider.

“Oh, trust me _,”_ Melody said, “mermaids are very, _very_ real.”

Varian shook his head. “No, they’re not.”

Melody’s bright eyes didn’t even blink.

“Yes, they are! In fact –” she cut off and looked over the mostly empty hallway, leaning closer to him, “— I’m a mermaid!”

Varian decided in that split second that Melody was crazy – or had let a game of make believe get way out of hand. He shook his head and began to walk away from her, ready to just leave this conversation behind before he had to be the one to explain to her mermaids weren’t real.

“Yeah, right, sure,” Varian said, “and I’m a unicorn.”

Melody gave a huff behind him and Varian looked over his shoulder to give a triumphant smile.

“Mermaids _are_ real,” Melody insisted, “and I can _prove_ it.”

She dropped the book to the floor which had Varian give a slight squeak ( _“Be careful!”)_ at the small thud it made on impact with the floor and reached once again for her locket. She smirked and pulled it up for him to see.

“Look at this,” Melody said. She pulled open the locket, which revealed a large shimmering image appearing from thin air. It was a bright, blue light that moved in time to its own measure, a golden palace sitting amongst the bright blue field of illumination.

“Whoa….” Varian whispered, stepping forward to look at it. Even closer the image was more magnificent – bubbles and fish seemed to _be swimming_ in the apparition. And a few – no, it couldn’t be, they weren’t real –

“Are those –”

“Mermaids?” Melody finished. “ _Yep.”_  She smiled and pointed at the golden palace within the image. “This is Atlantcia, where my grandfather lives.”

That logical side of Varian was searching for an explanation for what it was Melody was showing him, but that side of him was being beat out by that side of him that was still a curious child, which was shouting at him _that is a magic locket, holy crap, that is a magic locket!_

Varian’s brow furrowed.

“Wait – if your grandfather lives in Atlantcia, but your mermaid, then why do you—”

“Have legs?” Melody said. Varian nodded. Melody shut the locket with a quiet snap, her impish grin turning much more anxious. “It’s a _long_ story – and half of it isn’t even mine!”

Varian rolled his eyes. “That meet and greet should last at least an hour more – we have time.”

Melody’s confidence returned, and she let go of her locket to cross her arms.

“Well, okay,” Melody said, tapping her chin contemplatively. “Where to start?”

“How about the beginning?” Varian said, grinning from ear to ear. Melody snorted and pushed his shoulder playfully.

“Touché,” Melody said. She rubbed the back of her neck. “Well, I guess the story begins when my mom was –”

Whatever came next was interrupted by the sound of someone yelling at the end of the hall. Both Melody and Varian were caught off-guard by this development and turned to look from where the sound had come from. But Varian’s shock soon wore off when he saw who was yelling – and who he was yelling _at._

_“Get back here you little raccoon!”_ Nigel was yelling, Rudiger hurriedly scurrying across the carpeted floor towards Varian and Melody. Melody appeared more than a little confused by this, but all Varian did was raise a questioning brow.

Nigel gave an incoherent sound of annoyance the second Rudiger reached Varian and started scratching at his legs, a sign that he wanted to be picked up. Varian did as his animal friend wished and he could feel Melody’s questioning glace on him. Not that he could blame her – a raccoon wasn’t exactly a normal friend for a boy.

“Your Highness,” Nigel said gruffly, landing in front of the two young royals with a very obvious frown, “If you would please control Rudiger and make sure he doesn’t get loose in the servant’s quarters again, it would save all of us a lot of trouble!”

Varian winced. “Sorry Nigel, it won’t happen again!”

“Rudiger?” Melody asked. Nigel looked down at Melody with a start, probably realizing that she was here for the fist time.

“This is Rudiger,” Varian said. Varian held up Rudiger so that Melody could see better, and Rudiger smiled wide to show off his full set of teeth.

“You have a pet raccoon?” Melody asked, tilting her head in confusion.

“Well, I really wouldn’t call him a _pet,_ ” Varian said, “but I guess technically, yeah.”

Nigel was still fuming, and he cleared his throat to get their attention.

“Regardless,” Nigel said sternly, “please keep a better watch on him!”

“I will—I will!” Varian assured. Nigel didn’t look too convinced, but he didn’t say anything else. It seemed Nigel that always had something else he w _anted_ to say that he held back from either finding the fight that followed to be too arduous and not worth it, or that he didn’t want to be embarrassed. The latter seem to be at play here, not wanting to fully engage in a scolding of Varian in front of Princess Melody.

“Why don’t we go to my room?” Varian asked, turning to Melody. “You could finish telling me your story there!”

Melody nodded quickly, looking at Nigel nervously. “Sure.”

“I can also tell you all about Rudiger!” Varian said, the two falling into step. “He’s the best raccoon in the whole world!”

Nigel sighed from behind them and Varian was about ninety percent sure he was going to hear about this later. Oh well. Birthday or not, he was bound to not get along with Nigel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was a monster to write because to get from Point A to Point B, I had to write this boring chapter. We have more Melody-Varian one-on-one interactions next chapter, so that’s fun. 
> 
> I do have a question to ask: Should I pursue the pairing I have intended with them? I find it adorable and think they would work well, but I don’t want them too if you guys think that it’s just not working. If over the next few chapters you think that over as they interact, that would be much appreciated. Varian and Melody are like twelve, so they wouldn’t be getting together anytime soon and that area of the story would be small because both will have things to do later on.
> 
> \-- Princess Chess


	15. Stories Shared

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter summary: Varian may like science, but sometimes things just can’t be explained. Doesn’t mean he won’t try

Varian, as crazy as it sounds, had never had someone his own age in his room before. It wasn’t because it was an insanely private person or anything – because he wasn’t, not really – but just because no one had been close enough to enter. Friends were few and far between for him, because he was considered “eccentric” for really not caring all that much about royal protocols and all that nonsense that every other child lucky enough to be in the court seemed to perfectly fine with.

He supposed doing things like going down to breakfast in pajamas (like he had this morning) or spending time with a raccoon weren’t the best things to entice friends. But in his defense, Mom sometimes wore pajama’s to places early in the morning – apparently the Queen could do things like that and he couldn’t.

All this bundled together to make him feel like a massive sack of nerves as he came up on his door, Rudiger still clutched tightly in his arms. Melody trailed behind him and gave curious glances to the doors and hallways they passed, every once in a while Varian stopping to explain where various things were and what a piece of artwork was.

They turned onto a hallway near Varian’s room and passed by a painting, which Varian didn’t even give a second glance.

“What’s this?” Melody asked.

Varian stopped – not having realized that she had paused – and turned around to face her. Melody was looking up at the painting hanging on the wall; her brow was furrowed, and head tilted to the side. Varian walked back over to her in similar confusion.

“What’s what?” Varian said. Melody nodded up towards the painting and he followed her line of sight and then he saw why it was confusing.

It was that same painting Mom had showed him years ago to explain Rapunzel. The years had crept past and Varian had gotten used to it – so used to it that he barely even noticed it any more. He didn’t mean anything malicious by it, but he had simply become so accustomed to his surroundings. It was similar to just forgetting notice the color of a wall or trusting to know where something was. It was an unmoved object, and when something remains unmoved it stands the chance of being forgotten.

Varian could understand why Melody was a bit confused. Though the Lost Princess of Corona was a well-remembered and sacred thing here at home, he supposed that perhaps in places like Terran and beyond the story got a little hazy or just simply wasn’t heard.

“That’s my parents, with their daughter,” Varian said, falling into line next to her.

“Their daughter?” Melody asked. “You have a sister?” Varian nodded and pulled Rudiger onto his shoulders.

“Yes, Rapunzel,” Varian said. “She’s the Lost Princess.”

A realization flashed in Melody’s eyes. Varian supposed that the story had reached Terran after all. She probably hadn’t put the painting and the story together.

“I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean too –”

Varian quickly cut her off with a shake of his head.

“Don’t worry about,” Varian said. “She was older than me, I never knew her.” Varian cut his glance back over at the emerald eyes of his lost big sister and felt a small pang of familiarity that died just as quickly as it came.

“Do you think she’ll ever come back?” Melody asked. Varian shrugged, which caused Rudiger to frown from the movement.

“I sure hope so,” Varian said. He sighed and looked back up at the photo. “She’s…. well, she’s my sister, regardless. Even if I never met her, I still think of her as my family. And all of us – Mom, Dad, and me, just want her to come back.” Varian looked at her softly. “Family’s family, you know?”

Melody looked down at her feet. “Yeah. I do.”

Varian had thought about Rapunzel many times since he had first learned about her. Varian wasn’t sure how, but he desperately yearned for her to return. He loved his life and his family, and the three of them had good and bad times. But the more he got older, the more he realized how much of a hole Rapunzel’s presence was. Everything they did was haunted over by the reminder that one of them was missing, even today felt a bit strange without Rapunzel here.

How was it possible to miss someone you had never met?

“Anyway, come on,” Varian said, waving her to follow, “my room’s just around this corner.”

Melody hesitated again, giving one last look between the painting and Varian, before racing back over to beside him. Silence enveloped them, and Varian felt like it was partly his fault. Should he be the one to breach normalcy after brining up his missing sister? It seemed like that was the right thing to do.

It seemed he didn’t have to say anything, because Melody eventually did it for him.

“So….” Melody said, eyes sparking with mischief again, “…are you ready to be proven wrong about mermaids and magic?”

Varian snorted. “That locket is obviously some kind of projection using chemical reactions.”

Okay, so he wasn’t a hundred percent sure on that point, but he couldn’t let it be known that he didn’t understand it. That would make Melody think he was conceding the point ( _which he wasn’t!)_ and he couldn’t have that.

Melody sighed once in time with them reaching the door to his room.

“I can already tell that you’re going to be a hard-sell,” Melody said. “But just so you know – I’m _right.”_

Varian rolled his eyes and stepped inside to his room, Melody slipping in behind him.

Rudiger rushed down from Varian’s shoulder without a second thought, hastening over to Varian’s bed where he slipped onto it to curl in a ball to sleep. Varian laughed under his breath at the non-surprising development and walked over to where one of his chairs were.

“ _This_ is your room?” Melody asked, looking around.

“Uh, yeah,” Varian said off-handily. He motioned to the chair over by the Tinkering Table as he reached for the other one. “You can go ahead and sit down, I’ll bring this other one over there.”

“How do you _find anything_ in here?” Melody asked. “It’s so disorganized.”

Varian raised a brow, giving his room a cursory glance as he pushed the chair over towards where she was hovering by the Tinkering Table. He supposed Melody was a little right – the tables were littered with scatterings of experiments and mechanical machines yet to be completely built, and from the outside looking in it would look a little disjointed.

He shrugged. “Makes sense to me, I guess.”

Melody reached to pick up the journal currently sitting on the table from where he had left it this morning before breakfast. She ran a finger along the rough design of a machine’s outline – in his rush to greet Mom, it seemed the journal had opened on a page. It was, in every aspect of the word, roughly done; the outlines of the sketch were thin and light from his hurry, words scribbled in the margins of what he planned to do with it.

He looked over her shoulder to see it as well. It was for the water purification machine he was thinking about and he felt a ping of regret. He hadn’t really thought over his plans for this in a couple weeks due to having duties, lessons, and the like, so why hadn’t he thought of _this_ when thinking over things to do this morning? It would have been a moot point – given the fact that Melody was currently standing here – but he still a little wistful that he hadn’t been able to work on it.

He reached over her shoulder and took the journal off the counter. Melody looked at him apologetically.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Melody quickly said, “I wasn’t prying, I swear!”

He waved off her concern with a flick of his hand. “Oh, no, Melody, don’t worry, I was taking it for research purposes. Even if it’s magic – and I say that with a giant _if,_ because _puh-lease_ magic isn’t real – then it needs to be recorded, that way future scientists can look back on it when they discover my work.”

“Your work?” Melody asked, both brows raised.

“Yes, _my_ work,” Varian said. “I don’t know if you’ve heard, but alchemy is the future and I happen to be _pretty_ talented in it.” He then frowned shamefacedly. “When I’m not blowing stuff up, that is.”

Melody gave a gentle laugh at that and finally sat down.

“Prince and alchemist,” Melody mused. “You continue to surprise.”

Varian hoped those surprises were good as he sat down, pulling the pencil off the table and turning to a spare page in his notebook.

“Back to the reason we’re here,” Varian said, giving Melody a pointed look. Melody griped her necklace and bit her lip. “You said this whole thing begin with you mom?”

“Well, uh,” Melody said, “you see, when my mom was sixteen she fell in love with a man named Prince Eric…”

And thus, Melody began her long tale of her family history. She claimed her mother – the very same woman Varian had saw only a few hours ago walking around – was born a mermaid princess named Ariel to King Triton, Ruler of Atlantica and father of seven daughters. Ariel, who apparently was the youngest, was always the black sheep ( _err, seahorse?_ ) of the family with her continued interest in humans and their culture despite it being pretty much outlawed.

A chance encounter with a shipwreck had Ariel save Eric, Melody’s dad, from drowning and the two immediately fell madly in love despite the fact that Eric couldn’t remember what Ariel looked like. Ariel sold her voice in exchange for legs and went to live with Eric on land, but the sea witch, Ursula, Ariel turned to tried to ruin any chance of their happiness as posing as the woman who rescued him.

When Ariel foiled her plan and retrieved her voice, Ursula captured Ariel and forced her father to abdicate his crown and be her servant to save Ariel. But with help from Eric, Ariel managed to kill Ursula and return her father to his station. In return, Triton gave Ariel a chance to be human and live with Eric which Ariel took.

But apparently that wasn’t where the story ended (even though that seemed like a complete ending to Varian), because Melody immedailty launched into the next part of the story. Melody apparently had been threatened by Ursula’s crazy sister Morgana, so Ariel had decided to build a wall around Terran’s coast – like how there was a wall at Corona’s border – and didn’t let Melody cross over – ditto for Varian and the wall – but Melody crossed over anyway and found the locket she wore now, which had been a gift from Triton before it had been taken so Melody wouldn’t know about Atlantica.

When Ariel still wouldn’t tell her, Melody ran from home and encountered Morgana who gave her fins in exchange for retrieving Triton’s triton. Melody – with help from a penguin and walrus named Tip and Dash – got the triton and gave it to Morgana but she turned her back on Melody and used it and subjected the ocean. Ariel and Eric returned in time to help defeat her, but ultimately Melody returned it because as a half-human she wasn’t Morgana’s control.

Triton gave Melody the change to live in the ocean with him, but he chose instead to break down the wall so that everyone could enjoy the ocean. But apparently Melody got to go back and forth sometimes, as long as she told her parents.

After she was done, Varian merely looked at her without blinking and pencil still on the journal page but not moving.

What. The. Hell?

“No way,” was Varian’s eventual reply. Melody smiled once softly and clutched her locket again.

“Way,” she said.

Eventually Varian shook his head as he finally processed that monster of a story. He stood up, leaving the journal and pencil behind on the desk as he began to pace back and forth.

“That story can’t be true!” Varian said. It didn’t make any sense! Sea witches? Witches and wizards just used science to preform tricks and services – and there was no way there was one (let alone two) living under the ocean letting people have fins and legs in exchange for things like voices and tritons!

“But it is!” Melody insisted.

“But it doesn’t make any sense!” Varian said. “Why could a witch steal a voice? Voices are a series of vibrations in your throat – that witch would have to find a way to _destroy_ the vocal cords, and-and they can’t be repaired to restore full volume!”

Melody rolled her eyes and held out the locket. “Well, then how do you explain my locket?” Varian opened his mouth, but she raised a finger to stop him from speaking. “And don’t give me any of that chemical reaction stuff! You know that’s not true!”

Varian grumbled under his breath as he thought over how to respond. Okay, so he couldn’t explain that away. But there was no way! There couldn’t be…. a…. way….

“Admit it!” Melody said at his floundering, face dripping with a victorious smile. “Mermaids and magic are real!”

Varian bit the inside of his cheek. He couldn’t admit that – he had just spent his last few hours debating that it wasn’t real! And one girl’s account wasn’t enough to disapprove it, even if that locket had _no_ real alchemic or scientific explanation.

“It’s…. plausible,” Varian eventually said. Melody sighed and stood up.

“Well, that’s a start,” Melody said with a sigh, hands on her hips. They shared a smile, both victorious despite that neither had technically won the argument. It was a quiet moment as they smiled at each other but not at all awkward.

Many things can make people friends. And it turned out, weird as it sounds, arguing over mermaids could make you so.

^ **^** ^

Cassandra was _not_ having a good day.

She had once again been passed for guard duty, something she had been really shooting for with Varian’s birthday party. With all those extra guests and the security that came with it, she had thought maybe Dad would give her a chance, but it seemed Dad was still subscribing to the theory she was still eight-years-old despite that she had just celebrated her twentieth birthday last fall.

It’s not like she had been training for this since she was six years old.

Dad had, however, gotten her the of handmaiden job when she turned eighteen, claiming it was only temporary until she could get a guard rotation. Cassandra had thought that would be six months to a year – long enough for her to pay some of her dues here in the Corona castle, but it was now two years in and it seemed Dad was still dawdling on that guard position.

In addition to that loss of the big break that she had been searching for, her handmaiden duties had been almost _tripled_ due to all the guests that had arrived. Making sure the seating arrangements were done correctly, making sure all of the guest’s rooms were correctly cleaned with beds made to specifications (and some of those dignitaries had some rather strange requests, let her tell you), as well as keeping some of the nosier ones that had slipped away from that little mini-party away from the more secret parts of the castle.

In all the chaos that was today, she hadn’t even been able to see Varian yet today. Varian might be a bit irritating at times and it seemed he still had that crush on her, but she considered him a friend and wanted to wish him a happy birthday and give him her present. There was an official place to put presents, but most of those were from people who had never even met him (aka those diplomats) so she really didn’t want to lump hers in with them even if her present was just some beakers.

About halfway through the afternoon she _finally_ reached the eye of the hurricane and got a long enough break to go find Varian. Clutching the wrapped box in her hand, she made her way towards Varian’s room with a tired smile.

The door was shut when she reached it and picked up a hand to knock when she heard a voice through the door.

“ _Look out!”_ a stifled and feminine voice called.

This was followed by a loud crash. Cassandra’s eyes widened, and she swung open the door in worry.

“Varian!” Cassandra said. “Are you alright?”

Inside she was greeted by the sight of a large pile of books in the center of the room, a frightened Rudiger standing on the edge of Varian’s bed with raised fur, and Varian lying on the floor in a crumpled form, a unfamiliar girl with raven hair next him as they laughed.

“What happened here?” Cassandra asked. Varian – finally catching notice of her – looked up at her with a smile and pushed himself off the ground, reaching out a hand to help the girl off the floor.

“Oh, hey Cass!” Varian greeted, buck teeth showing. “Me and Melody were trying to stack books as high as they could go.”

Cassandra raised an eyebrow and looked sideways at the girl – Melody --, who gave a sheepish wave.

“Hi,” Melody said, “I’m Melody.”  

“She’s visiting from –”

“Terran,” Cassandra said, “I know.” Princess Melody was one of the guests for the party, Cassandra could dimly remember that she had been with the Terran royal family. They had been one of the rooms on her list this morning. She hadn’t any specifications to her room, which Cassandra had liked very much after the Duchess of Greyson had requested gray sheets and blue pillows which had taken nearly three hours to hunt down alone.

“Melody, this is Cassandra,” Varian introduced for her. “She works here in the palace.”

Cassandra nodded at the girl as acknowledgement and Melody smiled at her.

“Hi, Cassandra,” Melody said, giving a barely conceivable curtsey. “It’s nice to meet you too.”

“Pleasure to meet you too, Princess,” Cassandra said. Cassandra then turned back towards Varian. “I came to wish you a happy birthday, Your Highness.”

Varian gave that smile he did whenever Cassandra said something to him, and with that smile Cassandra knew that crush on her was nowhere near disappearing. She pushed away that thought to deal with later and held out his gift to him.

“For me?” Varian asked, taking the box carefully. “You got me a gift?”

Okay, so, previously Cassandra hadn’t gotten him a gift, but in her defense, he was always a bit younger and she never really knew what to get for little kids. But he was around that age where it was bit easier to speak with him since he was no longer close to going off on little kid tangents on things.

“Yes,” Cassandra said. Rudiger jumped over from his space on the bed and towards his owner, scratching at his feet to get to see the box in Varian’s hands. Varian – who was never able to deny that raccoon anything – pulled Rudiger to rest on his shoulders so that he could get a better look.

“Well, thank you Cassandra!” Varian said earnestly, smiling from ear-to-ear.

“Least I could do after you got me something for my birthday,” Cassandra said. Varian had indeed got something for her last birthday – a first edition of books on medieval weaponry, which she had been eyeing in the book shop the past few weeks at the time.

Melody looked between them and Cassandra could tell she was feeling a bit awkward. The young girl didn’t seem too used to being around new people.

“Well, I have to be going, handmaiden duties and all that jazz,” Cassandra said, heading back towards the door.

Melody stepped away from Varian too. “I better be going too, I have to get ready for the party.”

“Oh, well, um, see you there then,” Varian said. Cassandra gave one last look over her shoulder as she left to see Varian wasn’t looking at her, but at Melody.

Cassandra frowned and ignored that tight feeling in her stomach as she turned away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey. Guys. He dropped books. They were big books. ;>
> 
> And Cassie has meet Melody. Wonder what’s up with Cass’s tight feeling? More next chapter on that, I swear. What do you guys think on the MelodyxVarian pairing? I’ve received some varied feedback, but I should know by the end of next time which direction I’m going. 
> 
> Guys, legit “Let Me Make You Proud” came on my playlist and I just about squealed while writing this chapter. 
> 
> \-- Princess Chess


	16. More Than You, More Than Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Summary: It’s a party, but a rather strange one at that.

Arianna twirled a strand of her hair around her finger in a nervous motion outside the doors to the throne room. Frederic frowned at this motion and placed a hand on her shoulder comfortingly. Arianna looked at him in surprise, and realizing the ringlet twirled around her finger dropped the hair from her touch.

“Sorry, Fred,” Arianna said. “Just a little nervous.”

Frederic smiled.

“Don’t apologize Arianna. He’ll be fine,” Frederic said comfortingly. His brows furrowed, and he looked down the hall, where Varian was suspiciously absent. “Even if he’s running a little late.”

Arianna’s lips ghosted over a smile for a split second. Varian was always running late for everything – it seemed his own birthday party was no exception. That boy was going to be late for his own funeral Arianna swore sometimes.

“It’s not just the party,” Arianna said. “This is Varian’s introduction to the political world – everyone will know he’s here now including ---”

“The Protectors,” Frederic finished with a sigh. “I know. But we have no other choice, you know that.”

It was true, this was the only way. Corona had no other apparent heirs to the throne, which left Varian as the only option available. It would have been completely different if there was someone else able to take the throne after they were gone; they could keep Varian away from the world from politics, let it be that as few as possible knew he was here in Corona at all. But they didn’t have that luxury.

The Protectors were unpredictable – they had no way of knowing when they were coming to get Varian. And they were most assuredly coming. The Protectors always collected debts, and Quirin’s debt wasn’t satisfied when they took him. He had left before his time was up and Arianna knew that Frederic had begged him not to, but Quirin’s heart couldn’t take it anymore and he took his leave.

They would take Varian, make him serve the rest of Quirin’s time. Arianna couldn’t stand the thought of her sweet little boy that had stars in his eyes every science lesson and kept a raccoon on his shoulders as one of _them_ – forced to be a warrior, sword in hand and scars across him. She wanted to keep him safe as long as possible, can you really blame her?

But it was possible they might not come until after they were gone, and Varian was forced to rule, something he was going to have to do unless Rapunzel returned to them. And the world would need to know the Corona figure head, to make sure they knew Corona wasn’t theirs to overtake if they so wished.

“Arianna,” Frederic said after the beat of silence, “we’ve always operated under the idea that they knew where he was. This won’t change anything.”

Arianna looked up at him helplessly.

“Know where who was?”

Arianna turned around in a flash, finding Varian walking towards them, Rudiger at his heels. Arianna’s breath clipped, and the moment dragged on, Varian’s eyes looking up at her in confusion. How much had he heard? How long had he been there?

This was it. This was the moment she had dreading – he had heard everything, she was sure of it, and then what were they to do now?

“Nigel,” Frederic interjected into the silence. Varian’s brow furrowed.

“Nigel?” Varian asked.

“We operate under the idea that Nigel always knows where you are,” Frederic said. “You were running late, we were just about to send him out looking for you.” Frederic’s eyes had that twinkle of a tease in them. Hopefully that would help sell the fib.

Varian blushed sheepishly and played with his fingers. It seemed he bought it.

“I know, I’m sorry,” Varian said. “Me and Rudiger were looking over some notes for the Expo and I kind of got carried away.”

Varian had been wanting to enter the Exposition of Scientists for years now, but even as prince he still wasn’t eligible to enter until he was twelve years old. He had been working hard on his invention – which from what Arianna gathered was a device that could dry fruits quickly – and Arianna thanked her lucky stars he was just working on the actual presentation and not the device. If it had been the real device, she would have had to physically drag him away this morning because that was what he would have been working on.

“It’s alright,” Arianna said, swallowing her nerves back down into her chest. She affected the calmest smile she could manage and reached to place a hand on his shoulder.

“Are you ready for the party?”  Arianna asked him. Varian’s blush drained, anxiety replacing his sheepish smile as he peeked over towards the door.  Frederic caught notice of this too and grinned at Varian.

“It’s okay to be nervous, son,” Frederic said. “But it’s just a party, you’ll be fine.”

“Did Aunt Willow come?” Varian asked hopefully. Arianna felt another strike of resentment for her sister. Varian adored Willow to pieces despite having only meet twice – she had that kind of reckless energy that just seemed to ensnare kids. Every event and holiday he was asking about her, which made Arianna feel just a little bit of anger, yes, because Willow was loved to the moon and back by this boy and she couldn’t show up for his birthday.

“I’m sorry, sweetie, but no,” Arianna said. Varian appeared disappointed for a moment but then flashed a smile again.

“Well, okay then,” Varian said. “There’s always next year.”

Arianna’s expression warmed, and she ruffled his hair lovingly, mussing up the placement of his crown. He laughed softly in return and tried to pat down his hair and crown again.

“I see you’ve brought Rudiger with you,” Frederic said, looking down at the excited raccoon at his feet. Rudiger gave a small titter in response. Varian nodded with a smile, but a frown replaced it as he looked down at his pet.  

“I hope that’s alright,” Varian said nervously.

Arianna personally didn’t see a problem with it – he was still a child that loved his pet, she saw no reason why Rudiger couldn’t be here for Varian’s party. Frederic had seemed a little unsure earlier when Arianna had told him to let Varian bring Rudiger if he decided to, since he was a little stricter when it came to royal rules. But once again, he was a child and Frederic had relented on those grounds.

Besides, it was the closest thing to his birthday they could find (since Quirin hadn’t disclosed the exact date in the note he had sent they estimated it being somewhere around now, mid-November), and that had helped tip the scale in her favor.

“We don’t have a problem with it,” Arianna said. “But I have a feeling Nigel might….” That last part was added on with a smirk and wink and Varian smiled again.

Speaking of said man, the statesman slipped out of the ballroom doors next to them, the sounds of music and laughter following him before the doors shut again. He seemed to be quite content with how things are going inside, because for once he seemed to actually be smiling without a trace of hesitation.

Nigel’s smiled disappeared when his eyes caught a glance of Rudiger.

“Your Highness, you’ve brought Rudiger,” Nigel said dully. Varian nodded and scooped Rudiger up into his arms, the wearing matching grins.

“Mom and Dad said I could!” Varian said. His smile was just a tad bit smug and Arianna tried her hardest to not laugh at the sight, but Frederic, however, did laugh under his breath once. At Nigel’s look, he quickly hid it under a guise of a cough.

“Yes, well,” Frederic said, straightening back up, “he wouldn’t be allowed to run rampant, Rudiger would have to be near you the whole time.”

“Of course!” Varian said. “He won’t be a problem. You’ll be perfect, won’t you Ruddy?”

Rudiger remained silent, but Varian’s smile still remained as though Rudiger had agreed to the arrangement.

“Unlike normal,” Nigel whispered to himself. Varian didn’t catch it or didn’t care, because he didn’t say anything, but Arianna did however and gave Nigel a serious look. He looked away quickly and motioned for the tree to come closer to the door.

“Alright, although you hate introductions, Your Highness, you will be forced to have one now, because it is _your_ party after all,” Nigel explained. “After that, you should be free to mingle with the children your own age.”

Varian nodded in understanding, his smile still present but a fretful undercurrent in his eyes. Arianna – her own nerves still biting at her – placed a hand on his shoulder comfortingly.

“You’ll be fine,” she said. Frederic, noticing how nervous both of them really were, gave them both an uneasy (to her at least), but genuine smile.

Well, here goes nothing.

^ **^** ^

Varian was just about to consider this whole thing a bust when he finally managed to catch up with Melody.

After the announcement of his arrival – which he didn’t like all that much because while he enjoyed being the center of attention as much as the next person, he would rather it be for what he did rather than him just arriving somewhere – he had been flooded by too many people to count. Most of them were people who he had never even once meet his life, except at the welcoming ceremony.

All those people had quickly scared off Rudiger. He may have gotten used to living with people, but the sheer amount of people bombarding the two of them had caused Rudiger’s instinct to flee to come back to the surface. He was around here somewhere, Varian was sure about that. He thought he had seen the whisper of a stripe tail once or twice.

It had taken nearly half an hour alone to weave himself out of the grasp of the diplomats, all of whom wanted to be seen wishing the Prince of Corona a happy birthday. That had been an experience that he never wanted to live again, because he was just could only hear so many variations of the same thing.

Then the boredom had set in as he tried to find Melody’s ponytail amongst the crowd, since she was the only one here he could honestly think to find that at least halfway knew him. It was _his_ party and yet every second felt like it was expanding so that it felt like an hour. It didn’t help that Mom and Dad had shuffled off because they too had to make the diplomatic rounds, which left Varian alone as he figured out where someone he knew was.

He stepped past some Duchess, hoping that they didn’t see him, and checked over the corner for any sign of Melody. It appeared she was absent, but he did catch the light blue dress of Cassandra in the distance.

He smiled at the sight. He had forgotten all about Cassandra being here!

“Cass!” he called, quickly making his way through the crowd to get to his friend. He reached to touch her, but she quickly turned around to reveal someone who was _not_ Cassandra.

“Oh, Friedborg,” Varian said, trying his hardest not to sound disappointed. Friedborg wasn’t a bad person or anything, she just wasn’t who he was looking for.

“Are-are you enjoying the party?” Varian asked courteously.

Friedborg, whom Varian wasn’t sure he had ever heard speak, remained as silent as always as she stared at him, her three braids sticking out of her headdress. The handmaiden continued her silent stare for a couple moments and Varian blinked several times as he tried to come up with some way to politely excuse himself.

“Oh, well, um, I have – I have to get going,” Varian said, stepped back from her. “You know, people to meet and stuff, they came all the way here for me, you know? Better make a good impression.”

Friedborg didn’t say or do anything, just continued staring at him with her large eyes.

“Okay, then,” Varian said. “I’ll see you around, okay, Friedborg? It was nice talking to you.”

Varian turned away, and she didn’t call out any parting words, which he had been expecting. He sighed and stepped away from the large body of people, finding himself alongside the wall of the ballroom.

No one seemed to be around that he could talk too, Rudiger included. This was going to be a long night if he was going to just be lonely the whole time. It really was seeming to be a nice party from the way everyone else seemed to be enjoying themselves, but yet he couldn’t seem to enjoy a single thing about it.

He crossed his arms and leaned against the wall, determining to spend the whole night here when he finally caught a break from the boredom.

“Rudiger, what are you doing here?” a voice said.

Varian looked up at the mention of Rudiger to see said furry creature scurrying towards him for the second time today. Rudiger stopped at his feet, looking up at him expectantly for a scratched behind his ears. Varian smiled and reached down to pet him.

“I was wondering where you went off to buddy,” Varian said. He looked back up from Rudiger from where he had come from, seeing that Melody was coming from the very same direction. “And I see you found Melody.”

“I can’t believe your parents let you bring Rudiger to a royal party,” Melody said, not bothering with a greeting. Varian laughed and picked up Rudiger to let him rest on his shoulders.

“Normally Dad wouldn’t let me take Rudiger to royal stuff,” Varian said. “But you know, it’s my birthday, so he went a little easy on the policy.”

Melody laughed once, reaching across to scratch Rudiger under the chin.

“I brought my friend Sebastian to my birthday party on accident,” Melody mused. “Let’s hope that Rudiger here doesn’t cause the same stir that Sebastian did.”

Varian’s brow furrowed. How does one “accidently” bring a friend to a party?

“Sebastian’s a crab,” Melody explained. “Got lost in a fold of my dress.”

“Ah,” Varian said. He shifted on his feet a bit but otherwise was unfazed by Melody’s statement. This same girl had confessed to possibly (he wasn’t completely sold yet) being a mermaid a few mere hours ago, and now she said that her crab friend caused a stir at her birthday? Oh, please, that was the least crazy thing Varian had heard Melody say all day.

“Well, I would say it would be hard for Rudiger to hide in _my_ dress,” Varian chided. “Considering I’m not wearing one.”

Melody blinked in surprise – having not been expecting a joke – and then laughed loudly, scaring a passing prime minister from it’s shocking sound. Varian smiled at the sound of her laugh – it was a pretty laugh and he really liked the sound of it. Even if it was a bit loud.

“I think you would like nice a pretty mint green one I have back home,” Melody eventually said once she stopped laughing, holding her side. “Would match your hair.”

“We have the same hair color,” Varian said. He reached up, picking out a strand of his hair to hold out to her. It was true, by some strange coincidence, their hair was almost exactly the same color. If it wasn’t in fact the identical color, then it would have to be one or two shades off of the other, save that one mysterious blue streak that cut alongside his face in his bangs.

She rolled her eyes and curled a strand of her hair around her finger.

“That’s why I said it would match your hair. Because it matches my hair, you fool,” Melody said. Varian scoffed and began to look around for somewhere to sit. The two of them looked a bit awkward just standing here, they were beginning to attract stares.

“Well, Melody, let’s say this dress did look fabulous on me like you said –”

“I said, you would look nice.”

“I know, _fabulous,_ must you repeat it? Anyway, let’s say it did, Rudiger would have to work really hard to not be seen hiding in it,” Varian said. He finally caught sight of two seats across the other side of the ballroom. He pointed over to them with his head and a raised brow, questioning if she wanted to go sit with him. She shrugged and stepped forward, which served as an answer.

The two began to make their way towards the other side of the room, sliding between people dancing a talking amongst each other.

“Well, he could hide in the skirt,” Melody offered, letting go of her ponytail. Varian shrugged and the two walked around a woman in a yellow dress.

“Fair enough,” Varian said. “But I guess it would depend on the kind of skirt. Is it big and poofy? Tea-length?”

Melody rolled her eyes. She went to say something else but was cut off by someone stepping in front of her. Varian heard her give a huff and try to step around the woman, but at the same time a tall man stepped in front of Varian that kept her from his view. He frowned and peeked around the side of the woman and man to see Melody trying to squeeze between them.

Many questions were going to come later from many different people about what he did next, mostly from his parents who had heard from dignitaries that had witnessed the event and couldn’t seem to get their noses out of other people’s business. Touching in royal life was restricted only to the barest minimum to those who weren’t already well established in a relationship – something even kids were told about and expected to adhere to, despite the fact that children has such little meaning behind their actions.

He reached out and took her hand in his own, her hand was small in his own and was surprisingly soft, but he didn’t really notice all that much. He pulled her forward and back towards him, keeping the grip on him as he moved them back through the maze of people. It didn’t mean anything – it was just simply a way to hold onto her so that they wouldn’t get separated on their way to the other side, but the side looks he was getting seemed to indicate it was supposed to mean something.

Oh, well. He never really cared what they thought anyway.

^ **^** ^

Cassandra wanted her bed and she wanted to sleep – and she didn’t care what order that came in.

She was _exhausted._ A full day of prepping rooms for people, making sure everything was clean, and then also staying on hand for a party in case someone needed assistance equaled being tired, and Cassandra just wanted to feel the sweet embrace of sleep sometime in the near future.

Cassandra growled and cast a glance over at the grandfather clock tucked away in the corner of the room. It was nearing nine ‘o’clock – it would be an hour or two before it was time for her shift to be over, since the party was expected to go on until near midnight, the staff had opted to allow shifts for the event since they recognized they needed sleep at some point. Just about the only one who was on hand the whole night was Nigel, and that’s because he was the Chief of Staff and the highest-ranking advisor.

Nigel was many things – a bit prissy, bossy, and enemy number one of Varian – but a hard worker was one of them, at least in Cassandra’s opinion.

She sighed and shifted onto her left foot to exchange pressure. She had been stationed near the door, which was being guarded by Stan and Pete.

“You seem on edge tonight,” Pete said, smiling at her.

She gave him an abrasive glare.

“I’m tired, Pete,” Cassandra said sharply.

Stan – who had long since stopped being the object of her affections – rolled his eyes with a laugh.

“We’re all tired, Cass,” Stan said. She folded her arms across her chest and stared back out into the crowd.

“Then don’t give me grief over it,” Cassandra said through gritted teeth, eyes threatening to close of their own accord. The gentle buzz of the ballroom gave her no identifiable voice to listen too, so they all began muddling together into a hum. She yawned once, eyes shutting tight from the action when she heard a voice.

“I heard Prince Varian took Princess Melody’s _hand_ ,” a high-pitched voice whispered to someone as they passed.

At first Cassandra gave no care to the sentence. Royals and nobles had just about the strangest of rules, and the hand-holding rules were just about the most off-the-wall ones. She may know how to play by the rules of this world, but she still found them to be ridiculous, bec –

Wait. Did they just say _Varian_ took Princess Melody’s _hand_?

“Ooohh, seems like Prince Varian has a little girlfriend,” Peter joked. Cassandra grounded her already gritted teeth and turned back to them, eyes dark.

“They met today,” Cassandra said. “I bet he doesn’t even know her eye color if pressed.”

She didn’t know why she had felt the need to respond to that comment at all, if it had been about anyone else they were talking about she wouldn’t have felt dignified to say anything on the matter. But once it had registered that they were talking about Varian, that tight feeling from his room had returned to strangle her heart.

Stan raised a brow. “We were just joking Cassandra. You know these kinds of people, making mountains out of molehills. We were just trying to play along.”

Cassandra pursed her lips. “Still, he’s twelve, was it necessary to make that joke. He shouldn’t even consider a girlfriend for at least…four more years.”

Stan smiled wide at her and tightened his grip on his spear.

“Cassandra, I think your _jealous,”_ Stan said in a sing-song tone.

Cassandra blinked in surprise. “Me? Jealous?” She scoffed. “He’s twelve, if I was interested in him, something would be wrong with me because I’m an adult, Stan.”

Stan rolled his eyes and put one hand on his hip.

“Cass, I meant that your so used to being the center of his universe,” Stan said. “Ever since that boy was born he’s been trying to impress you. I think you’re a little jealous that you aren’t his muse right now.”

Cassandra wanted to say something and opened her mouth with the full intention of refuting that statement, but nothing came out. The tight string around her hear loosened some as Stan’s words processed.

Dad and had been living off-grounds before being moved on following his birth. Cassandra had never known a palace before Varian, not really. Even when Varian had been a little toddler, it seemed that boy was trying to seek her out with that smile he always gave her and a bright look in his eyes.

For so long she had seen him as nuisance because of it – she had her own life to live without some lovesick puppy getting in her way. Somewhere along the line she supposed they had become friends, she no longer thought of him as a nuisance at least, but she also become so accustomed to being the center of his world that she hadn’t ever considered what it would be like when Varian actually made friends with people his own age.

Okay, fine, she _cared about him,_ and she wasn’t ready for him to move on from her. It was nice! Having someone just like you because they liked you, not because of some kind familial connection. She had friends in the staff, sure, but she had feeling some of them were friendlier to her because her dad was Capitan Adrien of the Royal Guard and he was more than a little intimidating at times.

But Varian was well, a _prince._ He, technically, was her social superior so when he developed his crush on her as a tot, it was just because he liked her. She would never in a million years consider reciprocating – he was twelve, after all – but it had been a nice acknowledgment.

Though now there was Melody, she was the one taking up his attention. And okay, she was having a little trouble with that. Cassandra was – or rather had been – the person Varian went to first after his parents – it was alienating now that she was being pushed aside by a visiting princess he had never met a day before in his life.

But rather than admit all that, she simply looked away from them with a harsh turn of her neck.

“Shut up,” she said.

Stan and Pete laughed, and Cassandra tried her best to ignore them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We’ve reached the end of Melody, at least for a little bit! Some mentions will be made to her as we go on, before she makes her return MUCH later. 
> 
> And you’ll notice that Stan referred to Varian as being born royalty. He would be more than old enough to remember if Arianna was pregnant, but he wasn’t on the guard at the time. Anyone who directly knew about the adoption – like Cassandra’s dad – is strictly forbidden from disclosing it, and people who didn’t live in the palace just assumed she hadn’t announced the pregnancy, wanting to prevent what happened to Rapunzel to happen again. Sound cool? Okay.
> 
> ALSO! Next chapter is the last one we’ll have pre-film! YAY! Things are going to be picking up fast real soon, so I hope you guys are ready! Next chapter we’re going to be meeting someone. Can you guys guess who?
> 
> \-- Princess Chess


	17. Even Now I Wish

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter summary: A new player is about to enter the game, if she could only find the starting line.

_It’s a boy standing in front of her – the bright lights of her hair falling down on them. The ground beneath them is sturdy, wood from what Rapunzel presumed to be a dock. Water sloshed beneath them and in the distance the blonde could make out the faint outlines of a boat._

_She looks over the boy critically for a moment – he looked so young, younger than her at least and she wasn’t exactly all that old to begin with, being only seventeen years old. He has dark hair like Mother, but his eyes are warmer than hers, despite the curious look he was returning to her._

_And his eyes! They were warm and curious, yes, but also glowing bright in the darkness of night. It was a distinct glow, reminisce of the one that illuminated her hair whenever she or Mother sang._

_He was also so familiar, despite the fact she could never remember seeing this boy a day in her life. And she would remember, because the only people she had ever seen were Mother and Pascal, and the latter was only a chameleon._

_“Hello,” she eventually said, griping onto a strand of her hair nervously. The boy blinked and took a step forward on the dock, his feet covered unlike hers._

_“Hi,” he said. He screwed his face up in contemplation and motioned to her with a wave of his hand. “Have we ever met before? You seem so –”_

_“Familiar?” Rapunzel cut off, smile wide. The boy nodded along, a smile pulling at his face as well. She shook her head and hugged her arms to her chest. “I’ve never seen you before.”_

_Was it possible he knew her? Mother always had to go into town for things like food and cloth, perhaps Mother had told this boy about her? She quickly dismissed this thought – Mother was paranoid about anyone knowing their location. She wouldn’t tell anyone about her, let alone a young boy._

_Could he have known her before she was in the tower? During the brief time she had lived outside, when she was only a baby? It was unlikely – he seemed so young and appeared to be at least her junior by two or three years, so unless Rapunzel had misjudged his age, he must have been born years after she had been locked away._

_“Me either,” the boy said. Rapunzel felt a knot tie in her stomach at the revelation. Were where they? Why were they here? Together at that – this boy admitted to not knowing her. She must be dreaming. That was the only way to explain the strangeness of seeing this boy, and why she hadn’t gone into a fervor once she realized her hair was lit up._

_And why was she so calm about this? Mother always told her that people would either fly into a fit at the sight of her hair or try to cut it – why was this boy not caring? Why did she not care? Her hair was her secret, one she needed to keep at all costs._

_She stared into his glowing blue eyes to try and find an answer but found nothing but curiosity and confusion. It seemed he too had no way of knowing what was happening. Shouldn’t he? He was a figment of her head after all. He should understand what was going on._

_“Rest at ease,” a feminine voice said. Rapunzel turned on her heel when she saw the boy’s eyes widen at something hidden over her shoulder. She could see why the second she caught sight of what it was – or rather what she was._

_Behind them on the docks were stacks and stacks of boxes, and on the top of one casually sat a tall woman with silver hair and face half-painted scarlet. The woman had an easy smile as she leaned back onto her hands, the hilt of a sword peeking from behind her back. Her armor was bulky and a gray that reminded her of the moon when it was full._

_The woman – despite all the armor and paint and the sword – seemed to not be a threat at all, instead her stance was relaxed as she rested on the box of her choice, feet dangling over the edge as she kicked them back and forth. And yet, unlike the boy behind her, the appearance of this unknown stranger didn’t illicit calm curiosity, but the dangerous, burning one that scared her._

_Two strangers here – one she seemed at ease with, the other viewed as threat, despite neither proving which they should be._

_“I’m not going to hurt,” the woman said, leaning forward a bit. Her voice wasn’t harsh, it seemed comforting. She must have caught onto the fact that Rapunzel and the dark-haired boy were a little surprised by her appearance._

_“Then-then why are you here?” the boy asked, voice failing to conceal his fear. “Why-why are we here?”_

_The woman’s smile only widened more, and she stood from her spot, easily jumping from the box and onto the wooden ground beneath them._

_“You may not know me, but I’m a friend.” She crossed arms and leaned her shoulder against the stack of crates she had just dislodged herself from, cool confidence in her stance. “We’ll meet again someday, but for right now I’m just making sure you guys are okay. My …. friend has been little less than nice about these dreams.”_

_Rapunzel felt a chord hit in her heart. Dreams? Was this lady talking about the ones she couldn’t remember? The ones where just woke up with a loud voice booming about fate and the lingering sights of what the outside world may be like all she remembered?_

_The boy gave a quiet gasp. It seemed the woman had struck something in him to with those last few words._

_The woman looked over her shoulder, as if hearing a noise they couldn’t and frowned. She turned back around to face them with those same crossed arms, and her casual demeanor was slipped away to reveal a much brasher expression. Her stance was higher, and more definite slope to her shoulders that made her appear more intimidating suddenly._

_“It appears you’ll be leaving soon,” the woman said._

_“But what’s going on?!” the boy said. A fondness crossed her face and Rapunzel could feet some kind of affection float off from the armored woman towards the boy._

_“You’ll know someday,” the woman said. “But, for now, I recommend you roll with the punches, Little Man.”_

**_“RAPUNZEL!”_ **

The blonde was jolted awake by the shrill call of her mother, her dreary dreamland quickly skittering out of her reach. The place she had been had been dark but lit softly, unlike the bright and sunny interior of the tower. The shocking change of setting was forcing away the leftover memories in a flash and her mind reached out for a grasp of anything to hold onto.

Nearly every day it seemed she had this problem. Awaking to forgotten dreams that teased her head with the possibility something else was out there for her, before tearing it away from her with nothing more than half-baked memories of the sun or moon and the sound of a young voice, curious and afraid.

But Rapunzel didn’t have much time to dwell on this, because she couldn’t keep Mother waiting. When Mother was left at the base of the tower for too long, she tended to get upset and Rapunzel didn’t like it very much when Mother get upset. That normally meant Mother would be in a particularly bad mood the rest of the day.

She rushed to the window from the chair she had dosed off in hoping against hope that Pascal hid himself from where he was on the armrest, her long hair sliding on the floor behind her.

“ _Rapunzel, darling, please hurry up! It’s rather stifling outside today, and I would like to be in quickly!”_

Rapunzel peeked over the edge of the window to make sure it was Mother, just as she had been taught. Mother had told her stories of people that could masquerade with the voices of others. Witches and wizards that sought to create disorder, coming to find her.

But it was Mother’s cloaked form in the flowery field below which made her heart lighten and tense at the same time, because it wasn’t a stranger, but it was still _Mother._

“Coming Mother!” Rapunzel called down to her, slipping her long locks around the hook at the top of the window. She threw down her hair so that Mother could use to loop it, so she could reach the top, the roots of her hair pulling uncomfortably when Mother slipped onto the make-shift knot.

She began her routine movement of pulling her mother up. Mother had first proposed the idea when she Rapunzel’s hair grew long enough to accommodate as a rope, and it had been arduous task that had taken a long time because it was hard to pull another person up by only your hair, which had required upper body strength she simply hadn’t had at the time. That long wait had been the cause of one of Mother’s bad days.

Luckily it took much less time thanks to much practice, and within minutes Mother was at the window holding her basket and hood of her cloak up.

“Hello Mother,” Rapunzel greeted with a smile, out of breath again.

“Hello flower,” Mother said, slipping inside the window and putting the basket down on the windowsill. Mother looked over her shoulder, where her three books were currently scattered around it. Rapunzel had been re-reading them when she had dozed off, they must have fell out of her hands during her sleep.

“I see you’ve been busy,” Mother said, striding past her and towards the plush red seat. “And that you’ve forgotten to pick up after yourself.” Mother tossed a scolding look over her shoulder. “I raised you to be a bit more courteous than this. You know better than to leave your things laying around.”

Rapunzel felt a slight pang because she had every intention of cleaning them up before falling asleep but knew not to say anything. Besides, she shouldn’t have fallen asleep in the middle of day. That’s when Mother came home.

“Of course, I’m sorry,” Rapunzel said, twisting her fingers nervously. Mother’s scold melted away into her tight smile and she turned back around, pulling off her cloak.

“Very well,” Mother said. “Now, be dear and put away the cloak and your books, and then we can talk for a bit about your day, after you sing of course.”

Rapunzel’s eyes lit up at the invitation to speak with Mother. Mother may scold a lot, but she was also the only one Rapunzel had to that could listen to her days and call Rapunzel childish but she enjoyed telling about the things she had done, even if she had done them hundreds upon hundreds of times.

Within minutes the cloak was on the coat rack in the corner and the books were returned to their place on the shelves in her bedroom. Once the tasks were done, Rapunzel slipped onto the stool next to the red chair Mother always sat in. Brush securely in Mother’s hand, Rapunzel slowly let the notes of her song float through the main room of the tower.

_“Flower, gleam and glow,_

_Let your power shine,_

_Heal was been hurt,_

_Change the Fate’s design,_

_Save what has been lost,_

_Make the clock reverse,_

_Bring back what once was mine,_

_What once was mine….”_

In time with the beginning notes, the tips of Rapunzel’s hair began to glow a golden, honey light. It carried all the way down to the ends of her seventy feet of hair, and she began to feel a deep calm in her center. Her song always made her calm and provided her with something that centered her so quickly. When she sang her song, nothing could hurt her.

It also helped Mother, because the lines around her eyes and the streaks of gray in her dark hair began to disappear. Mother’s smile lost some of it’s stiffness as these attributed began to melt away. Mother always seemed nicer after Rapunzel sang to her.

The song was finished quickly, and Mother removed the brush from her blonde curls.

“Now,” Mother said, rising to stand, “why don’t you start on dinner and tell me about your day?”

Rapunzel rushed into action, sprinting into the kitchen. Mother followed at a much slower pace, Rapunzel’s voice calling out to her as she gathered the bowls out of the cabinet to ladle soup in. Rapunzel and Pascal had been cooking a soup all day for when Mother came back, so that way she could spend more time with Mother talking.

It looked a little over done, but not enough to be burnt. She had been a bit concerned that with her small nap that it had overcooked. Luckily it hadn’t. Mother didn’t like it when the food was burnt, since _I’ve taught you to cook, honestly, what do you have to do all day but watch the food?_

Rapunzel reached into the cupboard for two spoons to find Pascal hidden amongst the silverware, transformed a silver gray to match but his eyes still open to look at her. Rapunzel smiled at him and reached to pet his head once with a loving smile.

“Stay hidden, Pascal,” Rapunzel whispered to him, taking two spoons out.

“What was that?” Mother asked from the table.

Rapunzel’s face paled and she shut the cabinet door in a flash, hoping that Pascal had secured himself into the box.

“I was just saying that I hoped you liked the soup I made!” Rapunzel quickly fibbed. Mother had been blissfully unaware of Pascal’s presence in the tower for almost a decade now, the only secret Rapunzel ever kept from her. Mother would cast out Pascal and she couldn’t let that open because Pascal was her only friend in the whole world.

Mother raised a questioning eyebrow but let the issue slide.

“Yes, well, please don’t mumble, you know I hate it when you do that,” Mother said. Rapunzel gave a small, internal sigh of relief that it seemed that Mother had accepted her lie. If she hadn’t, she would have been in big trouble.

Rapunzel served the soup, voice soon babbling off about all the things she had done. Chores, reading, painting, all of them were listed in a rush to get her life out to Mother. Mother accepted all of it with a calm look and small sips of food.

When she reached her nap, Rapunzel’s fervor began to fade. Rapunzel’s only secret may be Pascal, but it didn’t mean she always liked telling Mother everything. Rapunzel had first had the dreams when she was four years old – she had been afraid, because she had woken up with only memories of a voicing screaming about destiny and fate and had gone to Mother for comfort.

Ever since that night, Mother had insisted that Rapunzel always tell her when she had one of these dreams she couldn’t remember. But the dreams were another thing that made Mother have a bad mood, so Rapunzel really didn’t like talking about them all that much.

“And then, um, I read my books again, but I dozed off around the middle of _Frankenstein_ ,” Rapunzel said, twirling the spoon in the frothy liquid.

“That sounds nice, dear,” Mother said, eyes looking far off and dazed. Rapunzel swallowed thickly.

_Here goes nothing._

“I, uh, had-had another dream today,” Rapunzel said, voice barely above a whisper.

At this, Mother snapped to full attention. Any emotion cleared from her face, neutral expression becoming a demanding frown within half a second. She placed her spoon on the table in a slow motion, but her eyes alit with an angry fire.

“You had another dream?” Mother demanded. Rapunzel nodded shyly. “Do you remember anything?”

Rapunzel furrowed her brow in contemplation for a moment. She searched her head for anything about that dream she had, but all she could think of was the smell of salt and a flash of dark hair. Eventually she shook her head and looked down at the plate before her.

“Nothing important,” Rapunzel whispered. A flash of what could considered concern appeared for a moment, but it was gone so fast from Mother’s face that Rapunzel wasn’t sure it existed. Her face returned to that icy expression she so often had when talking about the dreams.

It seemed Mother always had a cold face at times.

“Yes, well,” Mother said, griping so tightly on her spoon that her knuckles were turning stark white. “I thought we had discussed that these dreams don’t mean anything.”

“I know Mother,” Rapunzel said, “I just wanted to tell you about my day.”

Mother’s face was still stone, and though Rapunzel didn’t know why, she knew she better tread carefully.

“Well you could have fooled me!” Mother said, voice faking flippancy and eyes tight. “Talking about dreams and nonsense about the moon and a boy!”

Rapunzel felt something strike and in her mind’s eye she glimpsed the thin outline of face, freckled and young and lined by dark hair before it was gone. She reached out to get it again, but just like before it was out of reach of her.

She barely noticed that she hadn’t brought up anything about the moon or a little boy before the apology was out of her lips.

“I’m sorry, Mother,” Rapunzel said, shrinking back in her chair.

“I know you are, flower,” Mother said. Mother reached out to take her hand and Rapunzel didn’t flinch back from the touch, but she also didn’t look up to meet Mother’s eyes. Mother’s eyes would be disappointed. They almost always were. “It’s just – oh, I try to take care you here and then you go off about these dreams and I feel like at I’m square one of understanding you all over again! You understand, don’t you?”

“Yes, Mother,” Rapunzel whispered. “I understand.”

Mother seemed a little happier after that, but barely enough to be mentioned. The night carried on as normal, just with a bit of an edge hanging over them until finally Mother excused herself to sleep in her room. Rapunzel had been expecting that. While Mother very rarely slept here in the tower anymore, she made the habit of sleeping however every time Rapunzel had one of those dreams, just in case she had another.

But the whole time, even as she walked up the stairs to her room to sleep was what Mother meant about the moon and a boy.

Was there someone else like her? With magic? And a boy? Maybe she could meet him – she had never met a boy before! It was unlikely that Mother would, but the possibility was still out there.

Was she not alone?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WE’VE MEET RAPUNZEL! AAHHH!!!
> 
> Bruh, Rapunzel was so hard to write because I’ve loved her character for like eight years and now I’m writing her. Can you say intimidating? Was she good? She’ll get better as I get more in the groove with her, because the film is being told from four perspectives, and she’s one of them so I’ll figure out her style more as I go on.  
> (Not looking forward to figuring out Eugene though, because he wants to interrupt me all the time to yell at me about ho – HOW YOU GOT WRONG, MISS CHESS!)
> 
> Don’t forget to leave a comment or follow, both are always appreciated!  
> \-- Princess Chess


	18. One Step Closer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter summary: Varian and Rapunzel's journeys are almost at their start.

It had started as a normal day.

Varian woke up, ate breakfast, did his lessons (which were decreasing in frequency as he got older), and then went off with Rudiger to do his own merry thing. Well, merry wasn’t exactly the right word, because it was _that_ time of year again, so it was hard to call any mood in the castle anything above somber.

Mom and Dad –very understandably upset—were nearly mute with grief, and had turned away almost of all their duties, save the ones needed for the kingdom to function. Rapunzel’s birthday – and anniversary of her kidnapping – was rapidly approaching, and while it was easier for the kingdom to continue on with less of a sorrowful mood, for them it was the loss of a daughter and this anniversary was the hardest for them out of anyone.

Out of the royal family, Varian was the only one someone could claim was in a ‘good’ mood, and even then, that was simply because he was able to smile or laugh at something. He was the only one who of them who hadn’t known Rapunzel, so that too was a bit understandable, but that didn’t mean he was exactly in a _spectacular_ mood.

It was still his _sister_ and she was _still missing,_ and no matter what he would be a little upset by that prospect. Today he was a little on edge because of it, so he and Rudiger had landed themselves in the company of he only person who wasn’t bothered by a bit of a rough attitude.

“Don’t be afraid of the bow, Varian,” Cassandra said. Varian bit his bottom lip harshly and clutched onto the wooden bow tighter, arrow pointed into the red bullseye.

“I’m not,” he insisted back. Rudiger made some noises from his spot next to Cassandra, the tone sounding vaguely enthusiastic. Cassandra rolled her eyes from her spot off the side, crossing her arms with a raised brow and a smile.

“Could’ve fooled me, Your Highness,” she said. Varian narrowed his eyes out of annoyance but also out of an attempt to focus on the target a bit more. He pulled back the string a bit more to increase the tension, but then let go of the string once he was sure the arrow was straight.

The arrow soared through the air and towards the target on the other side of the courtyard. It hits mark a few seconds after it’s launch, the tip burying into the very edge of the red center of the target, the very edge of the feathery end intruding the white stripe around it. Varian smiled a little at the sight.

“Impressive,” Cassandra said, stepping forward with Rudiger at her heels. Varian turned towards her, lowering the bow in his hands. He adjusted the quiver around his shoulders with a smile. “Very impressive. You’ve made some real progress the past few months.”

Six months ago, Dad had suggested casually that Varian ought to have a way to defend himself in case of trouble, and while that prospect had at first been met with quick determination that he wouldn’t be doing that because he had so many other things with lessons and royal appearances and his own alchemy escapades that he didn’t really have time to learn combat. But later Varian had conceded that Dad had a point – if he was ever going to go off anywhere, he needed to have a way to make sure that he didn’t get hurt.

And archery, of all things, had quickly escalated to his weapon of choice. It wasn’t all that different what he usually did – first you have to observe what it was you were shooting at and then calculate exactly how far you needed to pull back the string. It was science and math in action, making it the perfect weapon for the alchemist he was.

“Thanks Cass,” Varian said, cheeks coloring from bashfulness. He shook his head to clear it and reached down to pet Rudiger once over the head.

“What do you think, Rudiger?” Varian asked. Rudiger tittered something with closed eyes, Varian smiling at him as he stood up. “I’ll take that as saying I did a decent job.”

Cassandra looked over at where the sun was nearing its mid-day position and then back at Varian with an amused expression.

“You’ve been at this for a couple hours; don’t you think it’s time you take a break?” Cassandra asked, hands on her hips. Varian frowned and clutched the bow tight in his left hand, leather gloves crinkling with a slight sound.

“No – no, I got this,” Varian said, reaching into his quiver to retrieve another arrow. He notched it onto the string and let another fly once he measured his target, and it landed in the white strip around the red bullseye. He cursed once under his breath, he had been hoping to hit the red center again.

Cassandra frowned and put a hand onto his shoulder.

“Look, Varian, I know it’s getting close to _you-know-what,_ ” Cassandra said, “but you need to rest a little, you’ve been out here since nearly seven this morning and it’s almost noon.”

He frowned angrily. “I’ve seen you train for far longer, Cass.”

Cassandra’s appearance became harsher too. “I’m not fourteen.”

“What does _that_ have to do with anything?” Varian asked. He reached down to take Rudiger in his own arm, slipping him around his shoulders and neck. Varian normally always had Rudiger with him, but especially around now he had Rudiger on hand to keep him company just about everywhere. Rudiger seemed to sense that something was wrong and so while every other time of the year he may run off, now he was always within an arm’s reach of Varian.

“Look, Varian, I’m going to be blunt,” Cassandra said. “I appreciate the dedication to weaponry and defense and stuff, but you’re not made for this.”

“Says who?” Varian said.

She scoffed. “Are you – the alchemy-loving, raccoon-owning Prince of Corona – saying that you have secret aspirations to train as a world-renowned archer? If you are, this is the first I’m hearing of it.”

Varian frowned down at his shoes. Okay, so he had no such ambitions, his dreams still lied with his alchemy findings. But not even that was able to distract him, at least not enough. Alchemy required constant precision and observation, yes, but at times you were simply waiting and that allowed time for thoughts to come in and he couldn’t have that.

No, archery kept him on the whole time. You can’t stop to think in archery, it’s aim, shoot, repeat. Aim, shoot, repeat; over and over without thoughts of a sister he never knew coming to him.

“Look, Cass, I –”

“Your Highness!”

Varian turned around, Cass raising a brow over his shoulder. From the corner of the courtyard was coming Nigel, who seemed out of place on the training guards in his red overcoat and lack of armor.

“Nigel?” Varian asked, grip on the bow loosening. Nigel seemed red-faced and out of breath. Had he run all the way here? “What’s wrong?”

“The king wishes to speak with you,” Nigel informed, panting slightly as he tried to regain his breath. Varian bit his lip nervously. Dad talked to almost no one during this week, not even him or Mom. Especially him. Why would he want to speak with him? Had something happened?

^ **^** ^

The painting was finished, and Rapunzel smiled at the beautiful arrangement of colors above her mantle. How had she never thought to use this before as a canvas? She had been running out of space for what felt like forever, and only now had she chosen to use this part of the tower to paint.

She brushed her finger over the painting once to make sure it was drying properly, happy to find that it was mostly damp aside from the recent addition of her silhouette. The background was a dark, navy blue of the night sky with dots of yellow and orange meant to imitate the floating lights that would be appear on her birthday tomorrow, trees in the foreground with the furthest one holding an outline of her sitting on the top of the leaves, her blonde hair billowing down behind her and out of view, longer than the length of the remaining painting.

She removed her hand and she looked down at where Pascal was sitting down on the mantle next to her, looking up at the painting.

“What do you think Pascal?” Rapunzel asked. Pascal gave a smile and a series of quick nods, meant to be an indicator that he liked the newest addition to their tower home.

“I’m glad you like it,” Rapunzel said, smiling back at him. She stared up at it for another lingering moment, anxiety and uncertainty rising in her chest. Rapunzel had been wanting to go to see the floating lights for years, ever since she first remembered seeing them on her birthday, and this year was _the_ year, because she was finally going to ask Mother to take her.

If only she didn’t back out, like she had for the past three years.

“Today is a very big day Pascal,” Rapunzel said, reaching to put away her paints. “I’m finally going to _do it._ I’m goanna ask her!”

Pascal gave an encouraging squeak and clambered onto her shoulder, which helped quell some of Rapunzel’s nerves. Pascal thought it was a good idea – and he had actually been out there in the real world just like Mother, so that counted for something didn’t it?

“ _Rapunzel!”_

Rapunzel took in a sharp gasp of both nerves and excitement. It was time, Mother was here.

“It’s time,” Rapunzel whispered to Pascal in a sing-song voice. Pascal gave her look that was obviously meant to mean that she shouldn’t try and get out of it, and she laughed quietly in return. “I know, I know. Now don’t let her see you!”

Once making sure Pascal was safely hidden behind the red curtain over the mantle, Rapunzel hopped down to give Mother her hair, so she could enter.

“ _Rapunzel let down your hair! Darling, I’m not getting any younger down here!”_

“Coming Mother!” Rapunzel said, slipping her hair down the knot. Mother made her routine knot and Rapunzel began to pull her up, the motion much easier than it even was a year ago. Within a few minutes Mother was at the windowsill, cloak on and basket on her arm.

“Welcome home, Mother!” Rapunzel greeted warmly, still out of breath despite the practice.

“Oh, how you manage to do that every single day without fail – it looked absolutely exhausting darling!” Mother said, putting the basket down on a near table. Rapunzel waved off the comment with a genuine smile. She may not like doing it, but it was for Mother, so she would do it over and over again if she must.

“Oh, it’s nothing,” Rapunzel insisted, voice just the tad bit breathless.

“Then I don’t know why it takes so long!” Mother said, bopping Rapunzel on the nose with one of her single, slender fingers. Rapunzel hesitated in her response, not quite sure what to say in response. Mother then burst into one of her taut laughs and brushed past Rapunzel with a wide smile.

“Don’t worry, I’m just teasing!”

Rapunzel chuckled nervously.

“Right,” Rapunzel said. She shook her head and turned back towards Mother, resolve still not breaking from earlier. “Mother, as you know –”

“Flower, come here,” Mother interrupted, beckoning Rapunzel over to the mirror by the closet. Rapunzel did as she said, coming to stand beside the dark-haired woman with an unsure look. “Look in here, do you know what I see? A strong, beautiful, confident young lady.”

Wow, that was…really nice, but also unexpected. Rapunzel’s resolve built up and her posture straightened. Maybe Mother thought she was ready – maybe she _could –_

“Oh, look, you’re here too,” Mother said.

And then just like, half of her resolve burst with one poke.

Mother laughed another one of those laughs that made it hard to tell if she actually thought something was funny.

“Oh, flower, I’m just teasing, stop taking _everything_ so seriously!” Mother said. Rapunzel didn’t have the time to say she didn’t say anything at all, because her confidence in asking Mother was disappearing by the second after than last comment.

“Oh, yeah…” Rapunzel said, laughing weakly under her breath. “Well, uh, Mother, I wanted to –”

“Flower, would you sing for me?” Mother interrupted, hand pulling at her face. “Mother’s feeling a little run-down, then we’ll talk.”

Right, of course, the song.

“Oh, yes, yes, of course,” Rapunzel said. She scampered off, collecting the chairs and brush in record time. She thrust the brush in Mother’s hand once they both were seated and began singing so fast, that Rapunzel doubted that Mother would be able to keep up with the words.

“ _Flowergleamandglowletyourpowershinehealwhathasbeenhurtmaketheclockreversebringbackwhatoncewasminechangethefate’sdesignsavewhathasbeenlostbringbackwhatoncewasmine.”_

A flash of golden light came from Rapunzel’s hair and Mother was rushing to brush the hair, and then Mother’s grayer hairs and wrinkly lines disappearing.

“ _Rapunzel!”_ Mother admonished. Rapunzel, for once, didn’t shrink back from the scold and instead leaned forward excitedly.

“Okay, okay, I’ve been trying to tell you and I guess you haven’t figured it our yet so I’m just going to say it!” Rapunzel squealed. “Tomorrow’s my birthday!” Mother appeared contemplative for a moment.

“No, no, I distinctly remember,” Mother said. “Your birthday was last year.”

“Well, that’s the funny thing about birthdays, they’re kind of an annual thing!” Rapunzel said, careful not to mention that Mother may have not remembered. Mother was weird about Rapunzel’s birthday, and she knew better than to imply that Mother didn’t know something.

Rapunzel sighed and leaned back down into her stool, wringing her hands nervously.

“Mother, I’ve been thinking,” Rapunzel said, and Mother raised a brow. “And what I really want for this birthday –” Rapunzel’s voice dropped off nervously, “—actually what I’ve wanted for quite a few birthdays…”

“Always with the mumbling!” Mother cut off in irritation. “You know I hate the mumbling, always with the blah-blah, I can never understand what it is your saying, it’s so annoying! I’m just kidding, you know I love you so much darling!” Mother gave her one cheek pinch and then stood up, leaving Rapunzel behind without actually having _said_ anything.

Rapunzel could feel her resolve faltering. It seemed Mother wasn’t all that interested in Rapunzel’s birthday and – and it was never right to push Mother, she would just get upset. Rapunzel looked off to the side, where Pascal was watching unknown to Mother.

Pascal gave an encouraging look, and Rapunzel took a deep breath, a quick burst of confidence filling her veins.

“ _I want to go see the floating lights!”_ Rapunzel said. Mother stopped mid-pursuit of an apple, turning to face her in confusion.

“What?” Mother asked. Rapunzel blushed fretfully and walked over to the mantle, pulling back the red curtain with a little smile.

“I was hoping you could take me _to see_ the floating lights,” Rapunzel said, revealing her newest painting. Mother gave it one critical once-over before quickly dismissing the notion by turning away from her.

“Ah, you mean the stars,” Mother said. Rapunzel shook her head.

“See, that’s the _thing,”_ Rapunzel said. She flicked her long strands upwards to connect with the skylight in the corner and pulled back the small wooden door, shining a light on the star charts Rapunzel had drawn across one corner of their ceiling. “I’ve charted stars, and they’re always constant. _Always.”_

Rapunzel smiled widely and motioned back to her paining. “But these? They appear every year on my birthday, and _only_ on my birthday, Mother.” Rapunzel sighed and looked up at the painting wistfully. “I can’t – I can’t help but feel like they’re _meant_ for _me_. I need to see them Mother, and not just from my window. In person. I need to know _what they are._ ”

Mother gave an exasperated head shake at her little confession and closed the window leading to the outside.

“You want to go outside?” Mother said with a laugh. “Rapunzel, we’ve talked about this. There are vicious animals and cannibals and snakes, not to mention they would eat you up alive!”

Mother walked back over to her, picking up a fistful of her hair with a raised brow. “Just look at you! Do you really thing they wouldn’t try to take advantage of you? And what you could do?”

Mother’s face was losing its levity, with her tone not far behind. Rapunzel repressed a shiver – Mother was getting upset, and Rapunzel hated getting Mother upset.

“I know –”

“Oh, you don’t seem to,” Mother commented, eyes dark. “So, let me just _illuminate_ why it is that you can’t go outside.”

^ **^** ^

“Rapunzel’s crown got s _tolen?!”_ Varian said, voice louder than he expected. “Who-who would do something like that?”

Dad sighed and leaned back against his desk, arms crossed in front of him. Varian had been surprised that Dad had sent for him all days, and had worried that something was wrong, but he had never expected to get news like this.

How could someone still the crown of Rapunzel? On today, of all days? Rapunzel’s crown was so much more than just some trinket hidden away for a princess that never got to wear it. No, it was something set out every year, another symbol of hope that she would come back for it. And then someone had the gall to go and steal away that symbol, to try and snuff out that hope.

“From the description of the guards on duty, all signs point to Flynn Ryder,” Dad said, a bitter taste in his voice.

Varian frowned, teeth hitting each other harshly in anger. Once upon a time he had admired that thief, blindly thinking him some kind of adventure coming to life, but now that belief was shattered, because he had taken the very – and the only thing – Rapunzel’s family had left of her.

Flynnigan Ryder was noble and selfless – but it appeared this Flynn Ryder had decided to go the opposite direction.

“Do they know where he’s going with it?” he asked.

Dad nodded. “Captain Adrien and his men are currently following many leads.”

Varian nodded. He looked over to where Mom was sitting on a chair in the corner. Mom hadn’t said one word since he had entered the room, just remained in the chair staring at them with a dazed look. Varian frowned sympathetically and took a step closer to her.

“Mom?” Varian asked. No response. “Are you alright?”

Mom blinked at him and then shook her head softly, still electing not to speak. Dad reached to put a hand on her shoulder, sending a soft look to his wife.

“We’ll find it soon,” Dad said. “He couldn’t have gotten far.”

Varian felt a sinking feeling in his heart at those words. He had heard tale of Flynn Ryder, that he was one of the most notorious thieves in all the Seven Kingdoms and beyond, even breaking into King Trevor of Equis’s castle and managing to live to tell tale of it. Even with all of the Corona guard searching for this man, he was unlikely to be found, especially if he took refuge in the forest just on the other side of the bridge.

That’s a trick Flynnigan Ryder would have used – and given they shared name, Varian was willing to wager that this man was a fan of his. From the tales he heard, Varian assumed he used many of the same tricks that the character had used.

“They won’t find it,” Varian said suddenly. This got both of his parent’s attention, Dad’s face filling with anger and Mom’s with dread and fear. “Flynn Ryder is the most notorious thief this side of the ocean, tied only with Lance Strongbow – he-he doesn’t get that title simply by dumb luck.”

Dad’s breathing became heavy, but Varian didn’t take back what he said. He wasn’t trying to hurt them with what he said, but it was the truth and no matter how much it hurt, Varian needed to say it to convince them of what he wanted to say next.

“Varian, how dare –” Dad started.

“I’m not trying to be mean, Dad, really,” Varian said. “But Flynn Ryder isn’t stupid, and you’re going to need _everyone_ looking for him, which is luxury you don’t _have_ because this kingdom still needs protectors.”

Dad’s anger was still brimming, face red and eyes wide. “What are you saying, Varian?”

“Send _me,”_ Varian said. Dad’s angry expression now mixed with one of confusion, mouth opening with a silent gasp that never came. “Look, I want to find Rapunzel’s crown, and I’ve studied this man back when I thought him and Flynnigan were the same person. If anyone –”

“ _Absolutely not,”_ Dad quietly exclaimed, eyes cold and hard like steel knife. Mom once again remained silent, eyes watching Varian with that same look of surprise. “I will not call back the guards, so you can go off to chase Flynn Ryder yourself.”

“I’m not suggesting you call off the guards, Dad,” Varian argued. “But not all of them are going to be able to go, and you need everyone you can going after him.” He sighed. “Let me do this, Dad, _please,_ that’s my sister’s crown.”

Dad’s anger was still there, but some of the edge was disappearing as the seconds dragged on. Varian couldn’t blame Dad for his reluctance – Varian had never asked to do something like this before, and that was muddled with the already storm of emotions Dad was feeling already about Rapunzel and the crown.

“He has to go,” Mom whispered. Neither of the other occupants had been expecting her to say anything at all, so both turned to face her in surprise.

“Arianna –”

“ _No,”_ Mom said sternly. “If-if Varian has even a _chance_ of finding Rapunzel’s crown, then he _has_ to go.”

Varian stared at Mom in shock. He thought that he was going to have to convince a little longer to get even one of them on board, let alone one openly agreeing with him.

“He’s still so young,” Dad said. “Technically a child.”

Varian bit his tongue, knowing better than to fight being called a child when he was trying to convince Dad of something else.

“But _does_ he have a chance of _finding_ it?” Mom said back. Dad stared back at her in silence and Varian could tell from the contemplation in his eyes that Dad was _considering_ it.

“ _Please,”_ Varian said, voice barely above a whisper. Dad remained silent for one moment before shaking his head with a sigh.

“You can go,” Dad said, and Varian smiled to himself. “But you must return by time for the lantern ceremony tomorrow and bring someone with you, do you understand?”

“Yes,” Varian said. Dad nodded towards the door.

“You can go.”

Varian nodded at the dismissal and moved to walk away. At the door, however, he hesitated.

“I’ll bring it back,” Varian said. “I promise.”

And the he left, knowing exactly who he was bringing with him on this journey.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The movie is here! AAAHHHHHAHHAHHAHAHJFOADSNNFLSDNFL!!!!!!!!!!!!!
> 
> Rapunzel and Varian are now off to the races, I was going to have Flynn show up but I thought Varian’s conversation was the best way to end it. 
> 
> Okay, so songs! Obviously, they won’t be happening. But I remember when I looked through a Frozen junior novelization, where they had the song lyrics sprinkled throughout the dialogue and thoughts of the characters, so if any pieces line up with a song lyric, that is not a coincidence. 
> 
> And Varian is an archer because I said to myself “I need more Varian archery stuff” so here we are.
> 
> ALSO! Next week may not have an update because....I'm moving! I'll be busy packing and making sure my new roommate and I are all squared away and stuff, so I might not have time to write an entire new chapter for this. May happen, might not, just letting you guys know!
> 
> Y'all have a blessed day!  
> \-- Princess Chess


	19. It Might Be Crazy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter summary: Varian sets out, Cassandra gets a chance, Rapunzel is afraid, and Flynn is very confused.

Rapunzel watched Mother leave the clearing, hair blowing in the wind as it hung over the side of the window.

That conversation with Mother had been a less that thrilling experience. Mother had looked at her with a bone-chilling look that had sent shivers down her spine as she explained all the things that made the world so dangerous and why she had to stay here.

When Mother had laid it all out like that, Rapunzel had immedailty understood, once again, what Mother did. Mother loved her and protected her from all those ruffians and thugs and poison ivy, because the world was dark and gloomy and would never be able to accept her gift and not take advantage of it.

But still, something inside of her was refusing to believe that. The world couldn’t be that bad – even in the land of the tower Rapunzel could see things like flowers and the outline of a stream in the distance. They were so beautiful and wonderful, and how can a world with such beautiful things be…. _bad?_ At least, completely so.

Rapunzel sighed and pulled away from the window. Pascal appeared from where he had been hiding, quickly finding his normal resting place on her shoulder. Rapunzel gave him a weak reflection of a smile and leaned against the wall, fighting the tears in her eyes.

Didn’t Mother see that she was ready? That she could do this? Go out in the world for one day, maybe two and then come back here. Just she wanted to see the lights, not go on an adventure across the countryside (although that did sound like a lot of fun, but she knew was never going to happen), and why couldn’t Mother see how much this meant to her?

Rapunzel looked up as she slid down to sit, watching the paining over the mantle. Her ire grew as she looked at it silently for a few moments. Anger at Mother for denying her a one chance to be free, anger at herself for daring to bring it up in the first place when she had _known_ Mother would never say yes. Mother never said yes to anything.

She wasn’t even aware she was crying until she felt Pascal’s tail wipe one away from her cheek. She took a heavy breath and looked down at her friend to see him looking back at her, concern written in his reptilian eyes.

“I’m okay, Pascal,” Rapunzel said, answering the silent question he was asking. “I’m just….”

What was she? She had a hard time thinking she was even okay at all, given that she was currently crying on the floor. But – but this wasn’t anything new. She had known what to expect and still gotten her hopes up that Mother would say something else. It was her fault that she was here.

“I’m just here,” Rapunzel said glumly. “Like I always will be.”

Rapunzel just wanted one day out of these walls. But Mother was never going to let her. It was time to get used to the idea, no matter how bitter it made her tongue or how rotten a feeling was in her stomach. This was her truth and her life and wishing and dreaming wasn’t going to make it come true.

She either had to prove to Mother she could handle the outside world or be ready to spend her whole life stuck up here. And the way things seemed, this was the latter was the most likely of the two options.

She reached up to wipe away her dried tears, the dread of her decision filling her up inside.

“Come on Pascal,” Rapunzel said, voice weak. “We have-we still have some chores to do.”

^ **^** ^

“You want _me_ to go with _you_ on a mission into the _forest_ to find the _Lost Princess’s crown_?” Cassandra asked.

Varian, standing in her doorway with a bag on his shoulder, a quiver on his back, and a bow in hand, gave a single nod.

“Yes.”

Cassandra just blinked at him once. Varian had come up with some crazy ideas in the past, but this? This really took the cake. She was a handmaiden/guard-in-training and he was an aloof prince, how in God’s green Earth where they going to be able to do anything effective to find a crown or Flynn Ryder?

“With all due respect, Your Highness,” Cassandra said, rolling her eyes. “You’re _insane.”_

He frowned. “I’m not insane. Mom had me tested.” He shook his head. “But this isn’t insane in the first place, Cass.”

Cassandra turned away from him, walking back to where she had been polishing her sword. She returned to her previous task and kept her eye on Varian, who was following her with a determined expression.

“Varian give me one good reason I should go with you,” Cassandra said. “I’m not even a member of the guards.”

Varian just shrugged.

“Because you can beat every guard without trying,” Varian said simply. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “Look, Cass, I know you better than anyone in this whole palace, and I also know you’re very capable at fighting and have at least some understanding of the forest on the mainland.”

Cassandra remained silent. Varian wasn’t reclusive, he had many friends here on the palace staff, and many of the guards as well, all of whom actually were equipped to run off on this daring journey with the blessing of the Captain. Cassandra wasn’t under that jurisdiction yet, at least not officially, so taking her with him was a wild card.

But then it struck her. She _wasn’t_ a guard. Her loyalty to the crown was technically only that of a citizen and as a servant, not of a solider. The Captain wasn’t her captain, he was her father, and now that she was an adult had no power over her actions.

Varian had picked her because they had more freedom, could go to more places, without the threat of an order from anyone else but from his parents.

“I’m not a guard,” Cassandra said, leaning back in her chair.

His eyes looked older and wiser as he nodded. “Now you’re getting it.”

He sighed and rang his hands nervously.

“Look, Cass; Rapunzel, she’s-she’s never coming back,” Varian said softly. “My parents, they-they want her to – and I want her to too! – but it’s almost eighteen years. The chances…. I can’t even _begin_ to know what they are. As much as I hate to admit, my sister is probably never coming back, but my parents need the hope she will to hold on. And that hope is that crown. I need to get it back so that that they can keep that hope.”

Cassandra had never heard a member of the royal family say something like that. Most of the kingdom had thought Rapunzel dead for years now, the years were too long, and she had vanished so completely that it was impossible to explain. It was an open secret that such observations must not be spoken to three royals, so Varian’s laying out that option so openly was a shock.

“I’m not saying she’s dead or that she’ll never return,” Varian said. “But Rapunzel’s been gone for so long, the possibility is slim.”

“Varian –”

“I _trust_ you to not give up on this – give up on what’s left of her,” Varian said. “And I know you’ll help me.”

Cassandra muddled over her options for a moment. This was an invitation, Cassandra knew that because Varian wasn’t one to give orders, but it was also a plea. This wasn’t a prince asking help from a palace staff member, this was a friend asking for help from another friend.

Cassandra blinked, and for a second it wasn’t fourteen-year-old Varian standing with a satchel and a bow and arrow, but the three-year-old boy with a toothy grin and a stuffed toy in his arms.

“Please,” Varian said.

She blinked again, and the older Varian was in front of her once more.  She sighed. Friedborg was going to hate her, because she was going to have get her to cover her handmaiden duties.

“Give me a half hour to get my things together,” Cassandra said, rising to stand.

And for the first time since entering the room, Varian smiled.

^ **^** ^

Rapunzel had heard a sound.

She stopped sweeping of the kitchen the second she first heard it, Pascal waiting with bated breath on her shoulder. A tense moment passed as she thought over what it could be – was Mother back? No, she would have called up not made a noise. Perhaps something had fallen over?

Rapunzel was just about sure she was hearing things when she heard it _again._

_Clink, clink._

Panic curled in her stomach, hand clutching the broom so that her knuckles turned white. Pascal was making some sounds on her shoulder, but her mind was racing so quickly that her ears couldn’t quite decipher the inflection that went along with them.

Her heart was beating rapidly – what could it be? What was happening?

_Clink, clink._

She realized it was from the outside and horror filled her as she realized _someone was climbing her tower._

She sprang into action, fear taking her over and being pushed aside. She reached out and grasped the first thing she could use as a weapon – a steel frying pan – and raced out of the kitchen. She lined herself against the wall, Pascal on her shoulder and pan grasped tightly to her chest.

_Clink, clink._

Her breathing was labored as she thought over what to do. No one except Mother had ever been here before, and Mother always said that if someone were to find her that they would try to hurt her. What could she do if that was true? She hadn’t even been outside, she didn’t know how to defend herself!

From the window came a tall figure, most of their features still hidden from her sight. She gulped once and pulled even closer to the wall, Pascal squirming into the crevice between her shoulder and neck.

The figure shook their head after closing the window, turning the opposite direction of Rapunzel. She inched forward as slowly and silently as she could, the cast iron of the pan tight in her grip. She could see the figure better now, and they looked nothing like Mother or her – wide shoulders and hair cropped short, stopping before his ears in short strands.

“ _Finally,”_ the deepest voice Rapunzel had ever heard said, “alone at last!”

Rapunzel tightened her grip and swung. Metal hit skull quickly in a loud clatter of noise and the figure went still and quiet, falling to the floor limply.

Rapunzel scram.

^ **^** ^

It was mid-summer in Corona, so it was very, very hot. For that reason, Varian had neglected to bring an over coat, and was wearing the simplest traveling gear he could find for this short trip into the woods. Even at night it never dropped below seventy degrees, so it was unlikely he would need it to sleep.

He adjusted the quiver of arrows on his back, making one last count that he had enough as the entered the forest. If he ran out before he returned, all he would have was a dagger on his hilt to defend himself. That was something he really did not want to face because while his archery skill might be much more than passable, his hand-to-hand combat skills were barely good enough to be called decent.

Luckily that was Cassandra’s strong suit, as she had a sword on her back and two daggers – one hidden in her boot and another on her hip – which Varian eyed as they rode into the forest on Fidella. Maximus was the preferable one to take with them, but he was already off with Captain Adrien which left them with Fidella, who wasn’t anything to sneeze at either.

Varian let go of his hold of Cassandra once they entered the dark green landscape, sliding off the tan horse and onto the grassy fields below. Cassandra raised an eyebrow from her place on the horse. Rudiger followed soon after, and Varian reached down to give a pet as an acknowledgment.

“Where do you want to start?” Cassandra asked, pulling the reigns to make Fidella stop. Varian bit the inside of his cheek. He had studied up on all Flynn Rider’s haunts years ago – something that had taken much begging from Dad to be disclosed to him – but Varian had a feeling he wouldn’t go to one of them, at least not one immedailty associated with him. This was his score of the century, and Varian knew he wouldn’t want an amateur move getting in his way.

“He’s unlikely to be in Old Corona or one of the outer villages,” Varian said. “He wouldn’t have had enough time to get out there, and he’s going to have to have gone into hiding to have evaded capture this long.”

Cassandra nodded. “So that leaves pretty much just the forest, and a couple of houses and businesses in it.”

Varian looked out amongst the trees. Most people in these areas are trusting – it’s possible he swindled his way into one of their homes under the guise of a traveler. But they were also wary too, Dad was one of the strictest kings in Corona history, it was also likely that every single one of them had slammed the door in his face, so they weren’t involved in a crime unknowingly.

“I guess that means we start looking,” Varian said with a shrug, looking up at her.

Cassandra rolled her eyes. “When I agreed to this, I thought you had some idea of _where_ we were to start.”

Varian shook his head and stepped forward. “Hey, alchemy and royal duties, I can do that all day. Thief hunting? Still a novice, Cass.”

Cassandra laughed and pulled the reigns to motion Fidella to move. “Well, lucky for you, you got the Captain’s daughter on your side.”

Varian walked alongside the horse, Rudiger at his heels, smiling, but that smile quickly faded as the trees came closer to them. He stopped at the foot of the trees, Rudiger still resting down at his heels and stopping alongside him. He gulped once and looked out into the forest.

Mom and Dad’s hope for finding that crown rested on him too now, and there was no turning back once he entered the forest. Varian felt a pit grow in his stomach from nerves at this task – this wasn’t a little kid game anymore. No, this was quest, a real quest with consequences.

“Your Highness?”

Varian blinked and looked at where Cassandra had kept moving, her eyes concerned.

“Are you alright?” Cassandra asked in confusion. Varian steadied himself with one large gulp.

“Fine,” Varian said. He reached down to grasp Rudiger tightly. He had to do this, if it was the last thing he’d ever do.

Cassandra gave him another weary look once he started walking again. “Are you sure you’re ready?”

Varian forced a smile, clutching the bow in his hand tightly. “As I’ll ever be.”

^ **^** ^

Flynn Ryder was _not_ having a good day, something he very much wants the narrator of his life to note, if there was anyone that actually cared enough to tell his story.

It had started off as one of the best days of his entire life. A little reckless and daring, hey, okay, he’d say that, but that was the risk one took when you’re the most famous thief in all of the Seven Kingdoms. Him and the Stabbington Brothers (who, by the way, had the most ironic name ever, given that Flynn was the one stabbing them in the back) had gotten the crown of the Lost Princess of Corona, and then Flynn had managed to hightail it out of there, after having been given chase by the most ridiculous sentient horse _ever,_ and had finally managed to find a reprieve in a tower he found in the literal middle of nowhere. It was like a perfect hiding spot given to him, giftwrapped with a bow on top.

Turns out he had been _dead_ wrong.

He had gotten up the cobblestones (no stairs, how did they get to the top, whoever it was that built it?) using one of the guard’s arrows and just barely managed to get a pick in his satchel to make sure all was in order when _bam,_ darkness everywhere

Flynn was unsure how long he had been unconscious but given the sheer amount of harsh pain he had felt inflicted to the back of his head ( _twice!_ ) he was fairly certain it had to have been for a pretty long time. At least an hour or more, he’d reckon, if he was a gambling man, which he was when he had to be.

But what pretty much put the icing on the bad day train was the way he was awoken from the rather forced slumber who ever lived here had subjected him too. He had been in that inky, calm darkness that came with being knocked out – a darkness he realized he was far too familiar with – when suddenly something cold and wet, and then that darkness was gone – and –

“ _Ahh!”_ Flynn screeched when he looked to see what had woken him up. On his shoulder was a rather wide-eyed looking green frog-lizard-thing with their _tongue in his ear._ Flynn gave another yell and the animal finally fell off his shoulder.

Flynn didn’t care where the animal went or where it came from, he just wanted the animal off of him. He reached to wipe the animal saliva off his ear when he realized that he was tied to the chair. Flynn stared at his restraints with wide eyes.

They weren’t rope – that was for sure. It was far too soft for that, and a bit lighter in color. It was so stringy, very stringy, and looped across all four of appendages. It was long – wait, was it all one length? It seemed to trail off from the chair and into the darkened shadows of the rest of the room, which Flynn couldn’t see too much of.

Curiosity filled him when he realized what it was.

“ _Is this is hair…?”_ Flynn asked himself aloud, continuing to struggle in the confines.

“Struggling-struggling is pointless!” came a voice from somewhere. This shocked Flynn into stopping. While he recognized someone must be here – having tied him and knocked him out – he hadn’t been expecting a voice that sounded so afraid, because he could detect that quiver of fear.

“Huh?” Flynn asked aloud. There was shuffling from above as something fell down onto the ground with a plop, and Flynn was dimly aware of the outline of something – or rather someone – at the edge of the circle of light around him.

“I know why you’re here,” the voice, very feminine and still very scared, “and I’m _not_ afraid of you!”

“ _Unlikely_ ,” Flynn thought.

“What?” Flynn said, peering out to see if he could tell who was talking to him. The figure began to move forward into the ring of light and Flynn’s eyes widened.

It was a girl. A very blonde girl. With hair the same as what he was tied into.

_This was bad. This was very bad._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys, have I missed you, which is why despite all my moving stuff I managed to get this out in a semi-timely fashion. 
> 
> This one is so much fun, because everyone got their chance to take the narration, so now the whole cast is here and ready to party! I hope your guys liked this one, I'll see you guys soon!
> 
> I skipped over that scene where Gothel comes back simply for time -- we all know what happens and it would just be retreading ground covered already, so it still happened, we just didn't see it.  
> \-- Princess Chess


	20. Kill, Capture, and Change

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rapunzel and Flynn’s first meeting is well, strange, and Gothel’s world turns on it’s head.

Rapunzel has put on a very brave face her whole life. Mother could be Mother and was always flinging out a comment here or there about how Rapunzel did something wrong or should be more grateful, so Rapunzel had learned the careful art of putting on a smile and not letting the cracks of fear peek out from the time she was very young.

And now that this stranger was here in her tower, that art couldn’t be forgotten. It was more important than ever. So, she steeled herself, gripped the frying pan tightly, and stepped into the light to confront the stranger – who Rapunzel, upon closer inspection determined was a man – currently tied to the chair by her hair.

“ _Who_ are you?” Rapunzel said, hoping she sounded braver than she felt. “And _how_ did you find _me_?”

The man said nothing for a moment, just simply stared at her with a dumbfounded expression. This replaced some of her panic and fear with anger because this man had been asked a question – one that she _needed_ an answer too. She had sent away Mother for three days and hidden something from her, an offense that put a terrible feeling in her stomach for when Mother found out, because she always found out about things like this.

“ _Who are you?”_ Rapunzel said, louder and less fearful. “ _And how did you find me_?”

The man once again remained silent for a brief second, before something seemed to occur to him. He cleared his throat.

“I know not you are, nor how I came to find you,” the man said, “but may I just say…” His face changed at this moment, mouth tilting up to form a cross between a smile and a smirk, one eyebrow raised.

“ _Hi,”_ the man said, voice lowering a tad. “The name’s Flynn Ryder. How ya’ doing? How’s your day going?”

Rapunzel scoffed at the man and raised her frying pan threateningly, pointing it at his face so close that he was forced to lean back. The smirk disappeared.

“Who else knows my location, _Flynn Ryder_?” Rapunzel demanded.

“Alright, Blondie –” Flynn started to say.

“ _Rapunzel_.”

Flynn paused for a moment, as if contemplating if that was her name, before shaking his head.

“Gesundheit,” Flynn said. Rapunzel didn’t know what that meant, but from his tone she could tell it was being used positively. “Here’s the deal. I was in a situation, galivanting through the forest, I came across your tower, and I –”

Horror crossed his face, cutting himself off. He began frantically looking around the chair.

“Oh no – where is my satchel?!” he asked, worry apparent for the first time since he woke up. Rapunzel smirked now too, a little smug. She had managed to keep Mother from finding it after all, so Flynn wouldn’t be able to either.

“I’ve hidden it,” Rapunzel said smartly. “Somewhere you’ll never find it!”

Flynn rolled his eyes and made one cursory look around the area before settling on a pot in the corner.

“It’s in that pot, isn’t it?”

Rapunzel looked between the pot and Flynn, gave an internal sigh, and raised her frying pan again.

_Clank._

^ **^** ^

Gothel had always known that the mysterious secrets of the moon resided in a little boy named Varian, but never had approached after Varian had been adopted, it was far too dangerous to return following all the security Frederic had installed. She made her life using tricks and spells to get where she was, and not even those would be enough to get her through the gates again, but a quick location spell had revealed to her that he was the one with the magic of the Moonmist. It wasn’t surprising to her that it was Quirin’s brat that had gotten the magic – Quirin had always been one to stick his noise where it didn’t belong, something she had known from her run-ins with the Protectors.

Her capture by them had been brief, so brief that she had even managed to escape without disclosing the location of her precious flower. Quirin, however, had stood out from the other guards – a tight set to his jaw and stern look in his eyes, a pendant from when her family was still alive depicting the moon on his chest.

Gothel’s eyes had burned at the pendant and it had taken everything not to burn every Protector in turn, but she knew the endgame. The Protectors would serve useful in the years to come, when Rapunzel started getting out of hand and didn’t listen to her anymore. That day, Gothel had feared, was today, but luckily Rapunzel had realized her mistake and backed down. Switching her birthday gift from lanterns to sea-shell paints, Rapunzel had made the smart decision.

Gothel adjusted her navy cloak so that it was clasped more comfortably around her neck. Though it was very hot outside today, Gothel never went anywhere without her mother’s old cloak. It was all that was left of the life Gothel had before the flower and she’d be damned if she left it where Rapunzel could somehow jeopardize it.

It was also a practical item – the longer she was from Rapunzel and her magic, the more she would age, and she wanted to keep that ugly version of her hidden.

Gothel slipped through two trees easily, basket hitting the branches with a thud. Sweat was starting to line her brow – it was sweltering outside today, the sun really had outdone itself – and though her body was freshly rejuvenated from time with Rapunzel, her bones still ached from all the walking she did to the villages and this three-day journey was not going to be kind to those joints.

She contemplated turning back and just telling Rapunzel that the way was blocked because of a traveling festival or some other nonsense like that, when her thoughts were derailed by two voices talking nearby.

_“Varian are you sure you know where we’re going?”_ a feminine voice said. Gothel stopped mid step and whirled around to the direction the sound had come from.

_Varian._ A boy named Varian in the same woods where Rapunzel’s tower was?

Panic discharged in her stomach and she inched closer to the sounds coming from the near trees. She hid behind a rather large trunk with moss growing up to the branches, making sure her hood was up in case she was spotted. She peeked from behind her hiding spot to see two figures walking along and Gothel felt her breath hitch.

The tallest one – the girl who had spoken – was of no care to Gothel. She seemed like every other girl of Corona with short dark hair and green eyes, although the sword on her back did spike Gothel’s paranoia a little. The girl sat on a tan horse, leather reins held tightly in gloved hands as she looked down at the one Gothel eyes truly wanted to see.

It was the boy – Varian – just as the spell indicated he would look. Tall for his age, with raven hair and blue eyes to match a streak in his bangs. A bow was in his hands, the matching quiver slung across his back – that must have been his weapon of choice. His clothes were less worn than his female companion and was in light blue shades to match his hair. He seemed younger than the girl too, who herself seemed just a couple years north of Rapunzel.

“Yes, Cass, I know where we’re going,” Varian said. He reached down to pet a nearby raccoon and scooped it up in his arms. Gothel had assumed that the raccoon was a pest following them when she first laid eyes on it, but it appeared Varian was well-acquainted with the pest. Perhaps a pet he had?

“Could’ve fooled me,” the girl – Cass – said teasingly, bringing the horse to a stop. Varian sighed and scratched his raccoon behind the ears.

“It’s not my fault that Flynn Ryder is the most allusive thief in the seven kingdoms!” Varian said. Gothel furrowed her brow. Flynn Ryder? That man from the wanted posters? Why was this boy – that Gothel knew was a prince – out looking for a common thief? That would explain the weapons the two had though.

“Well, we better get a move on soon,” Cass said, looking at him pointedly. “Your parents are going to want you back for the lantern festival tomorrow, crown or no crown.”

Gothel felt a seed of passing disgust for the lanterns. Those stupid things had almost forced her into the final steps of her plan, something she couldn’t do at least until she had the boy in front of her in her clutches. She could go get him right now – he was right there after all – but unless she managed to subdue this Cass too, there would be a witness, something she couldn’t do without another weapon because Gia had always been the powerful witch that could stun two people, a skill that even at 431 years old was a skill she hadn’t mastered.

“Which is why we’ll be returning with Rapunzel’s crown!” Varian said enthusiastically. Gothel’s heart clinched when she heard Rapunzel’s name leave Varian’s mouth. Gothel knew that Varian would know of her, but all these circumstances together was making her feel jumbled, something she didn’t like very much.

The pieces of the mystery of why these two were here was coming together very quickly. It seemed this Flynn Ryder had stolen the crown of Rapunzel (Gothel, looking back, should have changed her name just a little but hadn’t cared enough at the time) and now Cass and Varian were looking for it.

Her heart clinched again. If Cass and Varian were looking around the forest that must mean…

_No._

She turned on her heel and began running through the forest like a madwoman, determined to get back to Rapunzel, back to the tower, back to her flower. Her lungs and feet burned from the sudden exercise, but she didn’t care as she pushed bushes away and flurried across the grass. If the prince had been recruited out to look for the crown, that meant that guards were also swarming the forest.

That meant they could have found Rapunzel.

She finally made it to the ivy hiding the valley with the tower and slipped behind it, for once not checking to make sure no one was looking. Hours ago, it had been bright and sunny here in the valley, now it was cloudy, windy, and just completely gray.

“ _Rapunzel let down your hair!”_ Gothel called up the second she hit the tower, voice as pleasant as she could manage. Nothing happened for a few moments. She tried again. _“Rapunzel!”_

Dread filled her stomach and she rushed around to the backside of the tower, where she knew an old staircase was hidden behind cobbles. She clawed away at the stone she had hastily put up to hide it and ignored the harsh pressure it put on her nails. After what felt like an agonizingly long time, the stairs revealed itself and she climbed up as quickly as she could.

The trap door at the top opened at her hand and it revealed the inner space of the tower. Gothel rushed to and from, pulling away at curtains and opening the few doors, never once seeing a glimpse of Rapunzel or her hair. Gothel’s breath became heavy as she realized what this meant.

_Rapunzel was gone._

Gothel spun around in a wild circle, the musty air of the tower hitting her. She had always hated the tower, so stifling and enclosed that she had almost felt sorry leaving Rapunzel to live in it. Without Rapunzel it was even worse in here because this was the product of everything she had worked for and she couldn’t displease Mother Mavis, and this was her chance for redemption and –

Her eyes caught on a shimmery light in the corner. Gothel stopped her frantic search at the sight and moved to the staircase, which was where she could see it coming from now. She pulled up the broken third step, which seemed to have been recently removed and replaced by someone she hoped was Rapunzel.

Inside she found a brown, basic satchel. Nothing special was about it and she considered it for a moment, but then opened it.

She, at first, didn’t find much at the contents. A wanted poster for that Flynn Ryder boy, which she set off to the side for the moment. She reached inside again to reveal a crown which she looked at for a moment. It was a beautiful but familiar looking piece and at first couldn’t place it at first.

But then her eyes widened, and she flung it away in disgust, as if it was burning her very hand to touch. That thing was in the same place Rapunzel had been – Rapunzel had probably seen it. Panic and fear curled in her chest. Rapunzel was probably off with that Flynn Ryder, he had come to steal her off, leaving the crown behind because what good was a crown when you had a magic princess?

She ground her teeth together and tried to think of something, someway to find this Flynn. A location spell? No – she needed her at least one Sister to help her for that, and the only one who would was Gia, and she off somewhere on assignment for Mother Mavis.

It seemed she was stuck looking the mundane way, with only her feet and her eyes. As if that wasn’t impossible enough as is – she had all the guards and that stupid prince and his companion to contend with.

She shivered to think what would happen if Varian was the first to find her. The Sun and the Moon together would be disastrous for her, since then Rapunzel would know the truth and then the cosmos would be against her and she would never get her chance to be a Sister again.

She shook her head and stood, resolving to search. She took her dagger from the drawer she knew it would be, ready for the journey ahead. She cast a glance at the wanted poster at the floor.

Flynn Ryder she would find and kill, to keep the secret safe. She would get Rapunzel back in this tower and hopefully keep her here long enough that she could wipe all memory of that boy. If she was lucky, get Varian here too, alter his own memory so that he thought he had always been here.

She nodded to herself. Kill, capture, change.

She had to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is one is kinda short, I know, but after all that stuff with Gothel I thought that it was the best way to end the chapter. 
> 
> Gothel is totally a witch. Their is a whole backstory for Gothel in this fic, which I originally wasn't going to give her, but then I read a chapter or two out of the book "Mother's Know Best", which confirmed that Gothel at least had a little magic herself and I basically just said "BRUH, TIME FOR SOME DARK MAGIC", and here we are. 
> 
> The Sisters are like the Protectors, we'll get more as we go along. What do you guys think? I can cut back on it if you guys don't want to see it.
> 
> Next time: Raps out in the world!  
> \-- Princess Chess


	21. Truth -- Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter summary: Varian wants to talk with one princess, while Rapunzel talks to a thief.

Varian – more than anything in this world – wanted to talk to Melody.

That sounded completely out of place at the current moment, he would admit. Here he was, searching for his big sister’s missing crown and the thing he was focusing on was a princess across the ocean and many countries away. But out of everyone he knew, he knew Melody would know what to do next.

Because he was unbelievably _lost._ And he didn’t mean that figuratively – oh, no, as far as what he was doing – finding the crown, bringing Flynn Ryder to justice, he was pretty sure on that front. He literally had no clue where to go next however, because after hours and hours of searching the whole forest they hadn’t found one sniff of any human life, except an old man living in a cottage who while perfectly pleasant wasn’t exactly who or what they were looking for.

Melody would now what to do – all her letters still gave him the exact impression he got two years ago, that Melody could always find a way back from where it was she was standing, didn’t let it get the best of her.

Varian sighed and looked around the forest stubbornly. Okay, think like Melody. What would Melody do?

“Varian?” Cassandra asked, very bored, leaning against Fidella’s side. “I think we’re lost.”

After an hour of walking in a circle, Cassandra had finally put her foot down and said they needed to rest, even if only for a little bit. Varian, though he had had wanted to keep moving, wasn’t able to offer a valid argument about where they should head off to next.

Varian turned to face her, crossing his arms stubbornly.

“We’re _not_ lost,” Varian said firmly.

Cassandra raised a brow. “Then _where_ are we?”

“I-uh-well –”

“ _Exactly.”_

Varian ground his teeth together and turned away from Cass again, looking out into the forest with a glare.

_What would Melody do?_

Okay, so they had already tried following the leads on the map they had, but that had run up empty. And no one was out here, so it’s not like they could ask someone else for directions.

Think, Varian, think!

He looked through the trees around them and caught between two trees was worn grass. Varian caught this with a raised eyebrow and walked over to the grass. He looked over to the grass nearby, which was much lusher and more grown.

Maybe it was an unspoken path? Enough people used it that the grass didn’t get a chance to regrow before someone came along to stomp on it again. Varian smiled and looked back over to Cassandra and Fidella, Rudiger perched on the saddle with a restful expression.

“I think I have an idea where we can go next,” Varian said. Cassandra made a confused face and peeked over his shoulder to see the grass. “This grass isn’t completely regrown, that means it’s used so much that it doesn’t get a chance to. And since no one is out here –”

“—it must be a common trail for the people using it to hide,” Cassandra finished, daring a smile. Varian nodded and pulled Rudiger off the saddle so that Cassandra could return to her place on Fidella. Rudiger made a small fussy sound at being removed but slipped up on his shoulders regardless.

Cassandra eyed Rudiger warily as she slid onto the saddle.

“Why exactly did you bring Rudiger?” Cassandra asked.

Varian shrugged. “What was I supposed to do, leave him behind for the biggest mission of our lives?”

Cassandra rolled her eyes and adjusted herself more securely on Fidella. “A little overdramatic, Your Highness?”

Varian laughed. Even if Cassandra didn’t quite understand why, Varian had brought along Rudiger because he was the closest thing he had to a best friend. And he couldn’t go off on this without his best friend – it was an unspoken rule.

“Come on,” Varian said, stepping onto the worn path. Cassandra followed after him, Fidella offering a soft ‘ _neigh’_ as they started moving again. As they started on the path, Varian could see the deeper they went the more run down it became – soon enough grass disappeared into visible dirt and clay beneath it.

No fences lined it and it was much too small to allow for carts or carriages, Fidella was nearly inching off into the grass as it was, so it was unlikely a sanctioned road for travel. It was a trail for people covertly traveling places – and given how little people were out here, most of those people probably used it for nefarious reasons.

Varian just hoped Flynn Ryder was one of those people.

“Looks like you’re right for once, Varian,” Cassandra said.

Varian put a hand to his chest and turned around to face her, mock offense in his face as he walked backwards.

“For _once?”_ Varian said. “I’ll all have you know I am always right.”

Cassandra stifled a laugh, but that smile was impossible to miss.

“Then explain why the second floor of the castle is currently undergoing renovations for a ‘mysterious’ explosion?” she said.

Varian bit his lip and turned back on his heel, shifting his bow to his other hand.

“Well – uh – technically I _was_ right,” Varian defended. “I just was not correct about how _much_ it was going to explode.”

Cassandra this time did not stifle her laugh and Varian was glad he was turned from her, because a blush was rising to his cheek. He liked hearing Cassandra’s laugh – she was so serious that she didn’t do it all that much and when she did it was just about one of the best sounds he could describe. All too soon her laugh was done, and they returned to silence, and Varian wished he could have heard it longer.

He shook his head at the thoughts. He was off searching for something very important and trying to get back perhaps all that remained of his sister, and he was thinking about Cassandra’s laugh. What kind of a brother was he?

The silence remained for a while, one Varian didn’t breach. The path was getting bigger now and, in the distance, he could make out the beginnings of a wooden fence. It seemed this was a branch off from the much more reliable road.

The closer they got the more they could make out that the road was leading _somewhere,_ the familiar structure of a building making its appearance in the far green background of the forest. Varian squinted to try and make out what kind of business it was, but it was too far to see.

“Any guess what that up there is?” Varian asked, turning to Cassandra. Cassandra shrugged.

“Not a clue,” Cassandra said.

Varian sighed once and brushed his hand across the green leaves of the bushes nearby. Well, only one way to find out what it was.

^ **^** ^

Rapunzel was having the time of her life.

Sure, she was scared, but who wouldn’t be? Mother had filled her head with stories of ruffians and thugs and a sickness called the plague, and Rapunzel was terrified one of them was going to rear their ugly head. But at the same time…

….it was _amazing_ out here.

Everything was so real and exciting. The trees were bright and the most expressive green she had ever seen in her life – the painted pictures in her books didn’t do them justice. They curved in the strangest ways on the beds of grass, sometimes colorful with fruits and flowers drooping from branches and creating sharp contrasts of color that made it hard for her to turn away.

She tried to catalog it away in her mind for when she went back to her tower. Who was to say she would ever get a chance to come back here again?

Pascal squeaked on her shoulder in excitement. He hadn’t been out here in years either – he too would be beyond eager to spend the next say or so out here in the real world.

Flynn – however – didn’t seem all that excited. He just kept that same, grouchy frown on his face since the moment she had gotten him to leave the tower with her. She supposed it had to do with her hiding the bag and whatever that round, sparkly thing in it was, and the fact that she had managed to successfully hide it, thus forcing his hand to taker her to see the lanterns (which she now knew was the floating lights).

It was still the outside world – a place filled with color and buzzing with sounds of animals that just seemed to make everything _more._ How could he be so upset when he was in _this?_

“Come on Flynn!” Rapunzel said, racing around the forest with no clear direction. Flynn – who did not move from his spot despite her instructions—merely mumbled something under his breath and remained stationed by his tree, looking rather uninterested in this whole endeavor.

“No thanks Blondie,” Flynn said, “I’ve seen my fair share of forests, and this one really isn’t all that impressive.”

Rapunzel stopped dead at his words, eyes opening wide. There were _more forests? Better than this_ one?!

Rapunzel whirled on her heel to face him, nearly getting her feet caught in her hair in her excitement.

“Really?!” she said, rushing back over to him. “What were they like? Did they have lots of animals? Was it this bright? Were the leaves brown? I read in a book somewhere that some leaves change colors during the autumn – _wait_! What’s autumn like?”

Rapunzel needed to know _everything._

Flynn raised a brow at her. He looked a little less bored than he had before, but he still seemed none too impressed with her and her questions.

“Anything else you would like to know?” Flynn said. “It’s like you’ve never been outside before!”

Rapunzel balked. Ho-how had he known? Was it that obvious that she was new to this whole thing? She hadn’t meant to give him that impression, she just had been so excited!

Rapunzel tried to appear nonplussed by his words, scoffing under her breath. She crossed her arms smoothly, tucking her cast-iron frying pan under her arm.

“Me? Never been outside?” Rapunzel said. “Th-that’s funny!”

Flynn’s face finally became amused and he laughed once, voice still clipped.

“You’ve never been outside, have you?” Flynn prodded, producing that smile that Rapunzel really tried to ignore.

Rapunzel bit her lip nervously and shook her head, keeping as casual as she could manage. Oh, God. He couldn’t find out she had never been outside before! Imagine what he would think of her then!

(Not that she _cared_ what he thought of her.)

“Of course, I’ve been outside!” Rapunzel insisted. She pointed to Pascal, who was looking greener than usual with nerves. “How else would I have found Pascal?”

Flynn gave her a scrutinizing glace. “It looks to me like the frog –”

“ _Chameleon!”_

“—can climb.” His eyes twinkled devilishly. “But girls with long hair can’t.”

Rapunzel looked at him wide eyes, feeling very frightened to her core. If-if he knew that she had never been outside, he would start asking questions about her and where she came from and why she was in the tower and then Mother would never forgive her!

“So, tell me the truth,” he said, “why haven’t you been outside before?”

Bingo.

She pulled out her frying pan threateningly, wielding it at his face.

“I _don’t_ want to talk about it,” Rapunzel said sharply, “but I _will_ use this.”

Flynn raised his hands in surrender and Rapunzel relaxed at the motion.

“Okay, okay, don’t talk about the hair,” Flynn commented. “Noted.”

Before Rapunzel could lower her frying pan, she heard something begin to rustle in the bushes behind her. That same feeling of panic from the tower pushed up in her – something, something was coming for her!

“What was that?” she asked, hiding behind Flynn before he could brush her away. She jumped on his back for protection, sticking her pan out to brandish against whatever it was about to burst through the bush. “Are they bandits? Thugs? Are they here for me?”

The bushes rustled a bit more and Rapunzel swore she could make out _voices_ coming from behind it, which did little to quell the panic in her stomach. Flynn stared at the bush too, looking a lot less afraid then she was, but to be fair, he didn’t have magic hair to keep secret from the world.

A few more terse moments passed, but the large thicket of bushes wider than the towers base and taller than her burst open, and two people spilled out, looking very annoyed as the fell onto path.

Flynn seemed worried now too, taking a step back with her still clinging to his back. His demeanor changed now too, his muscles tightened, and his feet shifted to be more balanced. Rapunzel starkly realized that he was preparing to fight.

The two people – who had rather fallen face-forward into the grass below – looked up now, dizzy looks in their eyes as they tried to stand.

“Let’s follow the faces, you said,” one said. This one was taller than the other one, maybe even taller than her with short hair to her shoulders and olive-green eyes, a sword on her back. Rapunzel gave a yelp at the sight of the sword, voice quiet as she tried to hide herself more behind Flynn’s shoulder.

“We’re on a mission here, Cass!” the second said. He was smaller than the girl, Cass, by a long shot, but he seemed to be of similar height to her, if a bit smaller. He, like the girl, had dark hair except one blue streak in his bags, crystal blue eyes in a near identical shade. He too was armed, carrying a bow and arrow, quiver slung across his back.

He seemed very familiar, but she couldn’t put a handle on where from.

The boy finally looked over at them, irritation quickly shifted into a cold anger.

“ _Ryder!”_ he seethed, stringing an arrow in record time and pointing it at them.

“Damn it,” Flynn said. Rapunzel clutched tighter to Flynn, fear settling deep in her stomach.

What had she just gotten herself into?

^ **^** ^  


Varian couldn't believe it -- he had managed to find _Flynn Ryder._  


He _had_ held out hope that he and Cassandra could do it, but it was still a shock that he had done it. Especially since it had nothing to do with following paths or reason, but sheer dumb luck. Fidella had stopped so she could take a sip of water in a pond, and in that time Varian had heard talking behind a thicket of bushes. He and Cassandra had gone to investigate, tripped into the bush and come out the other side to see Flynn Ryder staring at them with a frightened woman clinging to his back.

The woman was clutching to Flynn's back, seeming very afraid of them. Why? Was she Flynn's partner or something?  


Cassandra whipped out her own sword once she realized who they were facing, her trademark scowl chiseled on her face.  


"Flynn Ryder," she said, voice lowered and laced with a threat, "we've been looking for you."  


Flynn's temporary surprise was gone now, replaced by a charming smile. He quickly brushed the woman off his back, her feet landing on the ground with a gentle thud. A lizard on her shoulder peeked out and Varian blinked at the sight. But then he blinked again because, _holy cow that was a lot of hair._  


This woman had blonde hair that went on for yards, wrapping around the ground they were on circles before disappearing into one of the far bushes. And this was only the beginning -- her feet were bare of all shoes, a frying pan her only accessory which was being held in what could technically be considered a defensive stance. 

And weird still? Varian could almost remember seeing this girl before.  


"Lots of people are looking for me," Flynn said easily, his body still tense, ready for a fight. Varian tightened his grip on the bow, smiling to himself. One fly of his arrow and no fight would ne necessary.  


"Where is it?" Varian said. No warmth was in his voice, only anger at the man before him. He was the man who had taken the last thing his parents had of their sister -- he deserved no slither of compassion.  


Flynn scoffed under his breath, crossing his arms with a casual demeanor that Varian had to admit was impressive. The man was daring, Varian would give him that, trying to deceive two enemies with weapons  


"Where's what?" the girl said. Her voice was warm, laced with confusion and also bravery. Cassandra turned to her, seeming surprised that the blonde had spoken, but didn't lower at her sword.  


"The crown," Cassandra said simply.  


"That _he_ stole!" Varian spat.  


"You have no proof!"  


"Oh, _that's_ what that thing was!" the woman said. She smiled happily, as if she had received the last part of some kind of riddle. Varian really looked at her now, feeling that familiarity grow inside of him the more he looked.  


It wasn't just as if he had seen her before, because that feeling was their too, but it was something else, something different. The curve of her jaw, the shade of her eyes, all of it was familiar to him that couldn't be explained way by simply thinking he might have seen her before. No, the were so common to him that at first glance his eyes had slipped right over them.  


The girl shifted her shoulder back, trying to appear braver, when the fog lifted and everything fell into place.  


Her face -- it was almost exactly like Mom's! Her eyes were huge and wide and soft just like Mom, and the way she held herself -- with a confidence that was hidden beneath the masks of fear and bravery felt so much like Dad's. This was _her,_ this was their daughter.  


Tears sprung in his eyes, and he lowered his bow slowly.  


"Rapunzel," he said simply. The girl -- _Rapunzel_ \-- looked at him in shock, eyebrows raised and green eyes glinting a deep fear that no bravery -- real or forced -- could cover.  


"Ho-how do you know my name?" Rapunzel asked.  


Varian couldn't believe it -- he had found Rapunzel too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this came a little late -- I had a paper due plus a bunch of homework, and my fic 'Where the Lost Get Found' is in the middle of an arc requiring long chapters, so I've been working on those to keep the updates on that semi-regular. But I powered through and got this out. Next chapter should be longer than the last two have been, for pacing reasons they had to be cut a little short. 
> 
> I also low-key have gotten in the show Star vs. The Forces of Evil, so some time has gone into catching up on that -- I just started season 2. Do any of you guys watch of it? Are any of you guys Starco shippers? Because that has skyrocketed to OTP alongside New Dream. :)
> 
> I was going to do to the montage, but I couldn't think of way to do that just didn't seem like copying other fanfic authors, so we'll see that internal conflict more in the coming chapters, as this one was more about getting the characters to finally meet up. The next few will be more character-driven. 
> 
> And the gang's all here! I'm so ready! Don't forget to leave a comment, I love hearing from you guys!
> 
> Y'all have a blessed day!  
> \-- Princess Chess


	22. Trust -- Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter summary: Rapunzel isn’t sure if she believes this ‘Varian’, Flynn realizes several things about his new blonde companion, and Cassandra has to pull Varian back.

Rapunzel could never remember being more scared in her entire life, not even when she had taken that faithful jump from her tower only a few hours ago. That had been a good, cautious fear – one that been easily overpowered by the curious call of the outside world.

This fear however, was different in its entirety. It was a tight fear, a more extreme version of what she felt when she stared into Mother’s crisp, dark eyes. It squeezed her chest together uncomfortably and had her stomach feeling like it was doing backflips inside her, each breath a labor almost too arduous to take.

Th-the boy – he knew – he knew! He knew who she was!

Rapunzel’s wide green eyes looked back at the boy’s blue ones, fear and bile rising in her throat. What else did he know about her? Did he _know?_ About the tower and the hair and her power? Had this been a scheme on Flynn’s part – had he pretended he didn’t know so that he could lead her out here?

_Had Mother been right all along?_

Rapunzel peeked over to where Flynn was still staring back at the short-haired girl. It was an intense stare that couldn’t be mistaken for friendly on any level, her sword still raised out towards Flynn. Rapunzel shook her head – no, they wouldn’t be reacting this way if they had known each other before.

She returned to the boy.

“Wh-who are you?” she asked. She tried to ignore the nervous quiver in her own voice. “And-and ho-how do you know who I am?” She raised her frying pan for good measure, clutching it tightly in preparation for use.

The boy – who had looked very happy and very sad at the same time – broke out of his emotional daze and shook his head. His bow was still notched, but he looked more at ease than he did moments before.

“So-sorry,” he said. A ghost of a smile crossed his face. “I’m Varian, this is Cassandra.” He motioned to his female companion, who didn’t move from her position. “I-I’m your brother.”

Rapunzel narrowed her eyes. Brother? Mother had never said she had a brother. Maybe this was one of those madmen Mother had told her about.

“Funny,” she said, face tightening. “I don’t have a brother. Mother would have told me if I did.”

At the word ‘Mother’, Varian’s expression fell. Rapunzel frowned at this.

“Your mother?” Varian asked softly. Rapunzel was unsure what to say in response. Why was Varian acting this way about Mother? Did he know her? Had Mother crossed him in some way? Rapunzel couldn’t see how, Mother never talked to anyone in fear that she might lead someone to them.

Flynn stepped forward at this moment, careful to avoid the blade currently aimed at his face. Cassandra simply pushed the blade back in its aims and Flynn merely rolled his eyes at the motion.

“Look, Cassandra, Varian – if those are in fact your real names – I don’t know what you’ve been drinking but this girl is most definitely _not_ your sister,” Flynn insisted, gripping her into a side hug. Rapunzel looked down at where his hand was on her shoulder and for a moment couldn’t suppress a smile at the action. She shook her head and cleared the smile, returning her attention to the two dark-haired cohorts in front of her.

What was wrong with her? This was no time to get excited because Flynn was technically hugging her. Even if he was the most handsome man she had ever seen her in life, though that list of men included only his name, and his hand felt strong and tight as he gripped her shoulder.

Pascal squeaked accusingly on her shoulder and narrowed his eyes. Varian’s eyes sparkled when he caught Pascal’s apperance.  

“Is that a chameleon?” Varian asked. Rapunzel raised a brow and reached for Pascal protectively.

“Yes,” Rapunzel said unsurely. “This is Pascal.” Varian smiled at Pascal with excitement. A raccoon appeared from the bush, slowly making its way to Varian’s feet before stopping. The black and gray animal nuzzled against his boot for a moment and Rapunzel could see a bit more warmth flood the boy’s eyes. Was the raccoon a friend of Varian’s?

Cassandra gave a gruff sound and her lips pressed into a firm line, giving off a wave of emotion that could only be described as akin to thunder – hard and loud and a precursor to something much more dangerous that would follow.

“Regardless, where’s the crown, Ryder?” Cassandra said. Rapunzel furrowed her brow. She knew that Flynn was a thief – she wasn’t stupid – but she hadn’t realized that people would actually want the crown she was hiding from him. Was this right, what she was doing? Using someone’s else items as leverage over Flynn? Didn’t the first owner want it back?

Flynn shook his head, still attempting to con his way out with that smile of his.

“Afraid I don’t know,” Flynn said. “Blondie here is the one who knows that information.”

All attention was on her now. Cassandra had narrowed, cold eyes like a knife and Varian’s eyes were wide and bright with hope, and both put an icy dread in her stomach but also alit panic in her chest. Why-why had Flynn told them she was hiding it? Now they would be after her and she would never get to see the lanterns and this whole thing would be for nothing.

Mother had warned her about this – that people weren’t mean and selfish and that they would sell her out, why hadn’t she listened?

_Why hadn’t she listened?_

She felt the beginnings of the watery sting of tears but forced down the feeling. She couldn’t cry, she _couldn’t._ She had only been out in the world for a few hours – she couldn’t let it break her so easy. She couldn’t let Mother be right.

(For once in her life, Rapunzel _had_ to prove her _wrong_ – she just _had_ to.)

“You’ve seen the crown?” Varian asked excitedly. His grip on his weapon was becoming looser and looser.

“And you know where it is?” Cassandra asked. Even though Varian’s demeanor had melted from confrontational into the odd mix of hope and sadness, Cassandra still appeared to be just as ready to strike as ever.

“Well…uh…,” Rapunzel said, words flubbing. She couldn’t outright lie – then Flynn would think she was _lying_ to him and leave her here and she would never get the chance to see the lanterns. But at the same time, Cassandra and Varian seemed to care a lot about this crown. Didn’t they have a right to have it back?

It seemed that her lack of an answer functioned as one anyway, because Varian’s smile grew tenfold and he took a step closer to her with an excited twinkle in his beam.

“You _have_ seen it,” Varian deduced. “Mom and Dad will be so excited to know you found it!”

Oh, and then there was also the fact that Varian thought they were related. Rapunzel gripped her frying pan again, tighter on a defensive instinct. Mother would have told her if she had a sibling, she wouldn’t have concealed something like that from her. Mother had never lied to her before.

_Except that the floating lights were lanterns,_ a niggling part of her said. Her stomach clenched at the thought.

“Look, kid,” Flynn said, looking exasperated, “I don’t know who you think you are –”

Varian’s eyes returned to ice and he raised his bow at Flynn again. Rapunzel’s eyes widened. It seemed that Flynn had said something that had really a touched a nerve.

“Prince Varian of Corona,” Varian said, venom in his tone. Rapunzel felt her mouth open in shock. Varian’s emotions seemed to have flipped on a dime. Wasn’t this the same person that had moments again seemed almost cheerful with hope? And now he was threatening Flynn with weaponry again? “And you are under arrest for seven counts of attempted theft and thirteen counts of robbery, _Flynn Ryder._ ”

The glacial way Varian said Flynn’s name sent a shiver down Rapunzel’s spine.

Panic welled once again in her. Flynn? Under arrest? No, no, no! She still needed him to take her to see the lanterns! If he were to be arrested, Rapunzel feared she would have to go back to the tower, where the crown still was and if the crown was still there, Mother would find it and then she would know and –

“No,” Rapunzel said simply. Before any could react to her statement, she rushed forward, placing herself between Flynn and the point of the arrow and the sword.

“Ra-Rapunzel?” Varian asked. “What-what a—”

“I _need_ him!” Rapunzel said. “So I can go see the floating lights.”

“The floating lights?” Cassandra asked, raising a brow. Recognition shown in Varian’s features.

“The lanterns!” Varian said brightly. “You mean the lanterns, right?”

Rapunzel hesitated. “…Yes.”

“That’s-that’s great!” Varian said. “I can – we can take you there!” Varian motioned between himself and Cassandra with a broad smile. “Just let us arrest Flynn.”

Rapunzel stopped cold for a second. They knew the way too? They knew about the lanterns?

Rapunzel was unsure what to do. Flynn _had_ obviously stolen the crown from them or someone close to them, so what good was she doing by shielding him? But then again, this could all just be trick on the part of Varian and Cassandra. One meant to trick her so that they could use her. Varian did after all think they were related….

Who was to say they wouldn’t just leave her after getting Flynn? It was possible Varian’s whole shtick about being her brother was just a ploy to lead her into trust.

Rapunzel shook her head. She wasn’t a fool, and she wouldn’t let Cassandra and Varian treat her like one.

“I think I’ll stick with my current guide,” Rapunzel said. She moved to swing her frying pan to knock Varian out. Varian merely stared at her in wide-eyed disbelief, not bothering to move from his spot watching her.

The frying pan, however, was blocked. Mid-swing, the cast iron met a steel, silver sword, whose owner Cassandra stood clutching it with an even steelier look in her eyes. She pushed one hand behind her to knock Varian out of the way, who fell to the side, that same shocked look on his face.

Something that Rapunzel supposed was Cassandra’s smile appeared.

“Now _this_ is more like it,” Cassandra said mostly to herself.

Cassandra took a step back, sword disconnecting from the frying pan. She readied her feet apart in what Rapunzel recognized as what could be fighting stance, and excitement plucked at her because _it’s a real-life sword fight!_ and fear also pulled at her because _oh no I’m in a sword fight._

“Come on, Varian,” Cassandra said. Varian blinked from his spot on the ground, but did as he was told, raising his bow and arrow to fight. From behind it, the raccoon was lurking with a disgruntled squeal.

Rapunzel gulped. She gripped her frying pan again, ready to swing it for the fight when a hand was on her shoulder, pulling her back and away.

“Run Blondie!”

And so, she did.

^ **^** ^

Flynn was surprised that Rapunzel had listened to him – this girl was normally very ready to disagree with just about everything he said (a certain deal-making session in the tower comes to mind), so when she had silently accepted his order to run from Cassandra and Varian, it had been a blessing.

Running, however, was very much less than full-proof when one combatant had a bow and arrow. So, having an arrow shot at him within seconds of the decision to run _hadn’t_ surprised him. He wasn’t even all that surprised when it grazed his bicep, cutting the shirt and leaving a sting as the sharp edge broke the skin.

Flynn gave a slight hiss at the injury but kept running, gripping one of Rapunzel’s arms as they raced forward through the forest. She was scrambling to pull up her hair as they went, golden locks in a giant pile in her arms. Pascal squeaked on her shoulder in surprise, but Flynn barely paid any attention to the frog.

Flynn knew they were being followed but hoped that luck was on his side they decided that another tactic would be better because everyone knew running after _Flynn Ryder_ wasn’t going to do them any good.

Still, he kept them running for a good long while, until the breath in their lungs was too gone to be replenished and it burned to breathe, and their bodies were exhausted. Flynn slowed his pace near a cluster of trees and looked over his shoulder, finding no evidence of Cassandra or Varian and no sounds to indicate that either were coming.

Flynn gave a sigh of relief and leaned against a thick-trunked tree for rest. Rapunzel seemed to take a moment too to rest, sliding down another tree to sit at it’s base, frying pan still clutched very tight in her hands as she put it in her lap.

Flynn shut his eyes and reached for his bicep, where he could now feel the stinging in his arm increase now that the adrenaline from running was disappering. Flynn hoped that it was just a normal arrow that Varian had hit him with – Flynn had heard rumors that the boy was quite an inventive little royal and feared that he might have done something to an arrow, made it poisonous or something of that nature.

Flynn’s stomach lurched when he realized what he just thought. That had been _Varian,_ as in _Prince of Corona Varian._ This was bad, he had the prince himself on his trail for that stupid crown. And, of course, he didn’t even have it, so if he were to be arrested, he couldn’t very well hand it back without selling out Rapunzel.

Not that selling out Rapunzel wasn’t something he wasn’t prepared to do – if really pushed, he supposed he would do, he admitted to himself with some reluctance. Anything was better than a hangman’s noose.

But at the same time, Flynn Ryder was not stupid. When he had teased her about never going outside, she had gone serious and raised her frying pan. Whatever it was in that tower, it was bad and had something to do with her yards of hair he suspected, something he had confirmed when Rapunzel had failed to correct him when he said ‘don’t mention the hair’ – despite that he had only been talking about the fact she had never left.

Flynn’s gut told him it had to do with the rumors of magic. Corona was one of the few places he had been to that accepted magic so readily and easily – stories and rumors of it swirled here like crazy, but with whispers of both awe and fear. Did he really need to bring the kingdom into the obvious magic storm this girl lived in?

And that wasn’t even taking into account that Varian had called her s _ister._ Flynn hadn’t even thought about the fact that apparently the Lost Princess was named Rapunzel when he had met Rapunzel – was it possible the frying-pan wielding blonde in the grass was actually the Princess of Corona? Did that have something to do with why she had been locked in that tower?

Flynn shook his head to clear his head of these wild thoughts. So much mystery around this one girl. Flynn was starting to think he had bitten off more than he could chew.

“Are you alright?”

Flynn’s eyes popped open to see Rapunzel staring at him from across the trees, her green eyes littered with concern. At first, Flynn was confused by this before tracing her eyeline to the hand on his bicep. He pulled back his hand to look at the wound and he held back a wince.

It was still openly bleeding, evidenced by his hand currently drenched in scarlet. The jagged skin was clean for the most part. It was at worst a surface wound, which was something Flynn could most definitely handle.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine,” he said, waving off her concern. Rapunzel didn’t seem all that convinced, eyes liberally still showcasing her worry for him. He reached a hand to cover the wound again, hoping the lack of sight of it would appease the girl.

Rapunzel bit her thumb nervously, looking very conflicted for a moment as they remained in silence. Pascal popped up from her shoulder and shared a look with her, giving her a subtle shake of his head. Flynn furrowed his brow. Did the frog know something about Rapunzel?

Eventually, Rapunzel reached to pull off a strip from her under-dress with a rip, standing with strip of white cloth and a dazed look as she walked towards him. Flynn raised a brow at the motion, but his confusion melted when she reached to remove his hand from her bicep.

She pulled the white cloth around three times to make it tight before closing it with a knot. Flynn watched her apply the make-shift bandage silently, brows knitting together. The whole time, her eyes remained on the wound with a concentrated look, a nervous bite to her bottom lip.

Flynn couldn’t help but notice the soft shine in her eyes, now that they were this close.

The job done, she pulled back her hands and took a step back from him, still not saying anything. Flynn was struck by silence for a moment, unsure what to say.

“Thank you,” he said eventually. Rapunzel blinked in surprised before a soft smile appeared.

“Oh, um, you’re welcome,” she said, voice almost a whisper.

“Not-not just for the bandage,” Flynn said, words tumbling out of him. “Y-you could have ditched me back there, but you didn’t, so-so thank you.”

Flynn didn’t know why he was suddenly spilling out thank yous to this girl – Flynn Ryder didn’t give out thank yous. But once one was out, they just started coming out, like they were pent up from somewhere.

Rapunzel’s face lightened with a blush. “Oh, uh, yeah sure thing. I mean, you would have done it for me.”

Flynn ignored that voice in his head that wondered if he would have.

Flynn felt his stomach rumble. It had been many hours (revision: yesterday) since he had last managed to swipe something to eat. He frowned, might as well try to get something with Rapunzel here, or else they would have a bigger problem had of them – starvation.

“Are you hungry?” Flynn joked. “Because I know a _great_ place for lunch.”

^ **^** ^

Cassandra had barely managed to snatch Varian at his collar before he was yelling at her to let him go.

“Cass let me go! Let me go!” he cried. Cassandra, however, did no such thing, keeping her tight grip on his blue collar with a frown. She sighed and turned him around, still firmly keeping him in her grip.

“Varian, you know chasing after him is going to get us know where!” Cassandra said. “If it did, he would be back at the dungeon right now!”

Varian frowned and pointed through the trees.

“But, Cass, that was _Rapunzel,”_ Varian said. Cassandra felt an internal sigh deep in her bones.

“Varian, you don’t know that,” Cassandra said, finally letting go of him.

Cassandra could see where Varian could think That Rapunzel was The Rapunzel. Flynn Ryder running off with the crown to show up with a girl bearing the same namesake as its owner? That was might suspicious.

But still, it had been so many years, something Varian had admitted himself earlier. The real Rapunzel was probably gone by now.

“Cass, I know that was her!” Varian insisted. “She looks just like Mom!”

Okay, so she bared a slight resemblance to the Queen. But green eyes and a similar build wasn’t enough to convince Cassandra that the girl with Flynn Ryder was the same one who was missing.

“Varian,” Cass said, “you said yourself that Rapunzel was probably never coming back –”

“It doesn’t matter what I said,” Varian cut off. His face was dark and hard, angrier than Cassandra had ever seen it. “That was Rapunzel, and we have to go after her!”

Cassandra shook her head. She was never going to convince Varian that that wasn’t Rapunzel, at least not right now.

“Regardless, she’s off with Flynn Ryder right now – as in expert thief,” Cassandra said. “He’s probably found a way to hide them by now.”

Varian’s wooden bow was tightened in his grip. “Than that means we go after him.”

“No,” Cassandra said, “that means we have to be smarter than him.”

Varian huffed and shot daggers with his eyes, but Cassandra stood resilient. She had long since adapted to Varian’s anger.

“What we’re going to do now is find the nearest area to rest,” Cassandra said, leading him back through the bushes. Varian followed with some reluctance, eyes angry and lip pressed tightly together.

“Rest? Really?” Varian asked, brow raising. Cassandra sighed again and whistled to get Fidella’s attention by an apple tree. Fidella trotted over and Cassandra quickly slipped on the saddle, looking back at Varian with a frown.

“Not for us,” Cassandra said. “Your arrow got him – he’s going to need somewhere to rest, at least for a couple minutes, preferably somewhere where he can be hidden.”

Varian bit his lip. Cassandra could see that he knew she had a point – the two of them may be smart, but there was no way they could have caught up to Flynn. He was sneaky and played dirty, but this way maybe they could beat him at his own game.

Varian eventually relented, letting out a held breath. He reached down to where Rudiger was loitering at his side, slipping his furry friend up on his shoulders.

“Lead the way,” Varian said. His tone was hard to decipher. Cassandra wanted to say something but waited too long, unsure what she could say, because he turned away and started walking. Cassandra sighed and picked up speed on Fidella, motioning her forward with a soft pull of the reins, beginning to lead them towards where hopefully Flynn Ryder would be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is officially going on bi-weekly because life has proven this can't be weekly anymore. I'm so sorry!
> 
> I hope you guys liked this chapter and have a blessed day!  
> \-- Princess Chess


	23. Guilty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter summary: New faces and the beginning of a breakthrough

“I _know_ it’s around here somewhere,” Flynn said, walking ahead of Rapunzel.

The grass beneath them had given away to a dirt path not too long ago, so Rapunzel was inclined to believe Flynn when he said they were close. She hoped that they got there soon – the bandage wrapped around his arm wasn’t getting any redder, in fact it was starting to turn brown with dried blood, but it was obvious to her that the wound was still bothering him. Every once in a while, he would give a hiss or grunt of pain, and reach for the wound before catching her concerned look and turning away and dropping his hand.

Rapunzel didn’t understand that. She was worried about him – he had been skimmed by an arrow after all. Why was he so insistent on hiding his pain?

She felt a knot in her stomach whenever he did though, but not because she thought less of him. She would feel guilt build in her, since she had the power to help him with it and she had chosen to hide her secret over help him. The fear of infection in his wound was one haunting her as she walked, especially since she had it in her power to fix it.

But her secret….

Her hair and her magic were something she couldn’t trust him with, at least not yet. She trusted him to take her to the lanterns and she trusted him enough to keep her safe, but her hair was not something she could trust anyone with. Flynn was only the second person she had ever met in her life, and he was a strange man.

He put a weird feeling in her chest sometimes when he gave those infuriating smiles and she wanted to desperately trust him, she wanted to so much. Mother hadn’t raised her to give the secret so flippantly. And she had already broken the rule to not leave the tower, she could only imagine the trouble she would be in if Mother found out she had given out the truth of her hair to Flynn.

She barely suppressed a shiver at the thought, Mother’s razor-sharp eyes flashing in her mind.

No, she couldn’t tell Flynn. She couldn’t help him with her hair. She couldn’t trust him with that. The fear of Mother overrode the confusion and need to help Flynn, a fact she admitted to herself with regret.

It was selfish, but she couldn’t disclose it. It was her secret, a secret that was more important to keep than anything else. She couldn’t – no, she _can’t_ just tell Flynn, not when that trust wasn’t there. Even if every time she looked at him and saw the wound on his arm, her heart fell, and she felt the urge to help –

“Ah, here we are!” Flynn said. “The Snugly Duckling!”

Rapunzel snapped out of her thoughts to see Flynn starting forward at a building, which she turned to quizzically. It was a unique building, to say the least – it seemed to be built out the roots of a tree. It was angled to the side strangely with the roots of the tree creating a strange but welcoming barrier around parts of the wooden structure. It looked worn down and rustic, but in the kind of way that made it seem homey and not beyond repair.

But still…. there were strangers in there. She wanted to think that Mother was wrong and that not all people were bad, but that warning was hard to ignore, that wriggling feeling in the back of her head that Mother was _right_.

“Don’t worry,” Flynn said, as if reading her thoughts. “Very small, very quaint. _Perfect_ for first time on the town gal like yourself.”

Flynn was smiling, but it was different kind of smile than she had seen before. It was still a smirk, but it was tittering on the edge of being almost genuine. She looked at him for a moment, trying to decipher the smile, before turning back towards the building with a small frown.

She was already on a journey to see the lanterns. What was one stop here _really_ going to do anyway?

“Well…” Rapunzel relented, turning back to him with an unsure smile, “…. I do like ducklings.”

“ _Yay!”_ Flynn said. Rapunzel scrunched up her nose, not quite sure if he was mocking her or not, but before she could say anything, Flynn was leading her towards the door.

“You’re just going to love it here Blondie!” Flynn said, looking over his shoulder at her. The genuine spark in his earlier smile was gone now, smirk fully eclipsing it. Rapunzel felt her stomach flip when he called her Blondie, but it was a good, exciting kind of flip that made her chest tighten just a bit. He had called her Blondie before, of course, but something just felt different about it _now._

Maybe it was just that she was still upset about the confrontation with Varian and Cassandra. Yes, that was it, it must be.

Any further investigation into the matter of the strange feeling into her stomach was cast aside as Flynn trust open the door, smiling out into the room. “Garcon, your finest table please!”

The only thing that Rapunzel could think to do was gasp as she stared out into the room. The room was dank and crowded, a mingled smell of sweat and old rotten wood forcing itself on her sense. The room was filled to the brim with men – the kind of men Mother had warned her about. All manner of men, tall and short in outfits of ripped leather and metal, spikes and blunt edges sticking out at elbows and knees and shoulders. Their muscles were bare, exposing marks from scars, some fresh and others crusted brown or pink with time.

Rapunzel thrust out her pan, arm movements jumbled with fear. She felt Flynn take her shoulders and begin leading her deeper into the establishment.

“Do you smell that?” Flynn asked, a bit of astonishment in his voice. “Just take a deep breath through the nose!" He took a large sniff for emphasis. “Really let that seep in! What are you getting? Because to me, it’s one-part bad man smell, and the other part _really_ bad men smell. Overall, it just smells like the color brown. Your thoughts?”

Her thoughts were spinning in too many directions for her to even consider what her opinion on the smell of the room was. That didn’t matter anyway because she felt something yank her head back forcefully. She turned her head slightly to see a man had grasped her hair was looking at it through peering eyes.

She gave a meek gasp and broke out of Flynn’s light hold of her, rushing across the room to near the bar, the men splitting as she kept on her desired path.

“That’s a lot of hair,” the man said, astounded.

Flynn’s smirk returned. “She’s growing it out.” His interest flew to the man’s facial hair. “Is that blood in your mustache?” His eyes were almost glowing. “Goldie, look at this! Look at all the blood in his mustache! Good sir, that is a lot of blood!”

Rapunzel’s only reaction to the mention of blood was for fear to bubble even more in her. She had already seen far more blood in this journey with Flynn’s injury than she had wanted to. What was this place?

Rapunzel cast more fearful glances around the room, brandishing her frying pan around with wide eyes and Pascal doing likewise on her shoulder.

“Say, Blondie, you don’t look so good…” Flynn said, slowly making his way towards her. Rapunzel returned her attention to him, feeling something rotten grow in her stomach once she locked her eyes on him again. “Maybe we should get you home, call it day?”

That rotten feeling only got worse. Any of the genuineness from before they came in was gone, replaced with a conspiratorial gleam to his eyes and frown that Rapunzel could tell was more than forced. After years of navigating the waters of Mother, Rapunzel was an expert in the world of fake expressions.

He had…he had known this would be too much for her! He had tricked her! She had felt guilty for not sharing her gift with him and this was what he did? _Tricking_ her, _lying_ to her, _scaring_ her?

He took her arm, her fear for the room they were in far outweighing her anger and annoyance that he was trying to back out her and began leading her towards where the door was still open, pouring bright sunlight into the room.

“Probably better-off,” Flynn continued, “this _is_ a five-star joint after all, and if you can’t handle this? Maybe you should be back in your tower –”

Rapunzel was sure Flynn was going to say something else, Rapunzel was sure of it, when the door slammed shut in front of them. It mirrored the darkened fear that grew with slam, as now the only light was coming from the two small windows and a series of candles scattered on the tables and on the ceiling.

The man who shut the door was scowling at the two of them, hand still pressed against the wooden door to press a yellowed sheet of paper against the surface.

“Is _this_ you?” the man demanded in a rough voice.

Rapunzel felt a shiver run through her. It was indeed Flynn – same shape of the jaw, same curl of his hair, it was almost an exact replica of him in picture form save the inaccurately drawn nose. Rapunzel had suspected that Flynn was up to something the moment he stepped in her tower and had it confirmed less than an hour ago by a boy claiming to be a prince.

But knowing it and seeing it were two different things. Rapunzel knew what wanted posters meant – bounties and serious crimes and possible trips to a noose, Mother had been sure to tell her all about that in the tower.

Amidst the foggy and thick tension, Flynn found in himself to joke. One look at the nose and he said, “Oh, well, _now_ they’re just being mean!”

“Oh, it’s him alright!” From nowhere a bald man with one hand and a hook snatched Flynn by the collar, pulling him away from her and pushing her farther away from him. The bald man gave a sneer as he pulled Flynn closer to him, raising his hook. “Gretto, go find some guards. That reward is gonna buy me a new hook!”

Just as quick as before, Flynn was taken from the bald man’s grasp and into another thugs.

“I could use the money!” the second man insisted, but then Flynn was gone again, yanked into the arms of a tall man with a helmet.

“What about me?” the third one said. “I’m broke!”

Within seconds, the room dissolved into frenzied yelling as everyone began reaching for a piece of Flynn. Rapunzel was completely thrust aside by this, pushing her towards the bar and completely out of reach of Flynn.

Rapunzel – struck with panic – began banging on all the men with her frying pan, but it seemed to have no affect on them.

“Gentleman, please, I’m sure we could work this out!” Flynn offered from the center of the mob.

Rapunzel’s anger at the situation boiled up and she began looking around for any thing she could to end this. Her eyes landed on a wooden chandelier hanging above them and her insides gave a smile at the sight.

She took in her hand a strand of her hair and flung it up towards the piece, the strand wrapping around a stray antler pocking on it’s side. She dropped her frying pan and nearby seat and began to pull her hair back, pushing the antler down and forcing the chandelier to reangle.

This and the mob continued for a few seconds, before Rapunzel let go of her hair. This broke the chandelier, and the wooden circle dropped from the ceiling and onto the ruffian (who was the bald man, Rapunzel noted) currently poised to punch Flynn square in the face.

The room went dead quiet at this, all action stopping. No one had been expecting it and it had forced them all into silence.

“ _Put him down!”_

^ **^** ^

Varian was not upset.

Okay, he was _very_ upset, but it didn’t dare say that out loud to Cassandra because that would only result in a not-quite-condescending lecture on how emotions shouldn’t cloud him or something else like and frankly he just wasn’t quite in the mood for it, so he opted for the tense silence instead.

They continued on a dirt path for what amounted to what was little under half an hour, but what felt like hours to Varian, too wrapped in his thoughts to notice really anything.

He had found _her_ – he had found Rapunzel. It didn’t matter if Cassandra didn’t believe him, Varian knew what he saw when he looked in Rapunzel’s green eyes. That was her, and no argument that Cassandra could pose was going to change that.

But there was also another side to that meeting. Rapunzel had run – she had chosen to go off with the man that had stolen something that was her rightful claim. Not only had she run off, she had run from them. Varian had thought that Rapunzel would be excited at the prospect of returning to her birth family. Maybe he had been wrong.

Where had she come from? What situation had forced his sister to team up with a wanted criminal in the first place? Why was she so fascinated by the lanterns? Had she been seeing the whole time? Did she know what they meant?

So many questions, ones he may never get answers too if they didn’t catch up to Flynn and Rapunzel. And he _had_ to find them, he had to. How could he return home, knowing he had found her and then lost her? It would break his parent’s heart to hear, because he would of course have to tell them. They deserved to at least know she was alive.

“We’ll find them,” Cassandra eventually said. Varian snapped his head around to where Cassandra was staring down at him on the horse. For once she had a smile, a small, soft one meant to be comforting but only made him feel worse. He shouldn’t need to be comforted. He should have kept running after her.

“I sure hope so,” Varian said. He felt the cold pressure of Rudiger’s nose press into his shoulder, it seemed that he too was aware of his distress. Varian reached to pet his head once, a gentle assurance that he was fine, but he knew a simple act would do no good with Cassandra, because she was still giving him that same look as they continued.

“Varian, if that was Rapunzel, you know that it’s not your fault if she did run off with Flynn,” Cassandra said, as if she could read his thoughts. That didn’t surprise Varian – Cassandra was wise in a way that Varian couldn’t name, knowing when to say things and sensing when it was time to be quiet.

Varian didn’t give her a response, not sure what he could give besides a rebuttal. He should have done something more – he should have tried to explain to her better – shouldn’t have tried to take away her guide, as she called Flynn – he shouldn’t have let Cassandra stop him. He should have taken off like a horse at the races, ready and willing to run until he could go no more or he found Rapunzel again.

But he hadn’t done any of that. So here he was, hoping that Cassandra’s plan to look for somewhere they could rest would work.

“ _This way!”_ a masculine voice called, and then a series of horses and men was racing past them. Varian’s heart sped up when he saw what they were wearing – golden armor, emblazoned with sun crests. It was the palace guards, on a chase of someone or something.

His wide eyes looked to Cassandra, who was looking at him with a mirrored expression. It seemed they both had the same thought.

_Had they found Flynn Ryder?_

“Do you think they found him?” Varian asked for the both of them. His voice was quite and hopeful. Cassandra smiled now, but this time the small was louder and took up most of her face, olive green eyes flickering excitement.

“One way to found out,” Cassandra said. She reached out a hand to him as an invitation to climb on the horse as well. Varian smiled now as well, excitement building at the prospect that they could be mere minutes away from finding his sister again. He slung the bow over his shoulder for keeping and took her hand, slipping behind her on the saddle. Varian barely had his hands around her middle to keep from falling when she took off down the path in the direction the guards had went.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...I'm not dead. 
> 
> I was having some computer issues that kept me from writing last week, so I couldn't work on it at all, so this week was me playing catch-up. This chapter isn't much, but I didn't want you guys to think I giving up on you! 
> 
> Next chapter we get into the iconic scene in the valley, which is connected onto another scene that is a direct result of the end scene that I could not break in two. I'm so excited to write it, Cass and V's addition to it will be so much fun!
> 
> As for the Snugly Duckling scene, in the beginning, Flynn is very genuine, just trying to find food, but he's also a trickster so he figures out pretty quickly how to use it to his advantage. Even though they had slightly bonded, he's not completely ready to not get out of the deal. That's why his reactions may seem a little different than in the film, if you're wondering.
> 
> I want to thank y'all for sticking with me through my unexpected longer hiatus and the show's actual hiatus. Fanfic is keeping me alive during in it. Y'all have a blessed day!
> 
> \-- Princess Chess


	24. Plans in Motion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter summary: It's shocking how quickly a story can change.

“What _exactly_ is going on here?”

It had taken them exactly three nanoseconds from the moment Cassandra’s boots touched the ground for her to speak, and less time than that for her to burst through the doors of the Snugly Duckling. She was vaguely aware of Varian scampering behind her in an attempt to keep up, something she was alerted to by the sounds of the soft grunting of leather boots and the tittering of Rudiger. Cassandra didn’t take any sort of notice of this to turn to him, instead keeping her gaze locked on the expressions of the men in the room.

It was mostly filled with thugs and the like, all of which were giving her too-innocent looks and shrugs, which only ignited more suspicion in her. There were palace guards here too, but they seemed to be rookies. They looked familiar, but Cassandra was unable to place their names. Cassandra made a mental note to brush up on the guard’s roster when she returned to the castle.

All of them seemed to be new, of course, except her father, whom turned around to face her with a frustrated expression that splayed concern and confusion for a moment before it was quickly dialed away. Cassandra wasn’t hurt by this – her father _was_ the one in charge here (technically), so he couldn’t let his men see him moved by her appearance.

“Cassandra?” he asked. His voice had the tone Cassandra when she was younger liked to call his Capitan Voice; loud and vaguely outraged, only giving a small glimpse of the real emotions behind what he was saying. “What _exactly_ are you doing here?”

“Same thing as you, Dad” Cassandra said, “I’m looking for the princess’s crown. We saw your horses out front and thought you might want our help.”

“ _We?”_ Dad asked. “Who exactly is this other part of ‘we’?”

“Me!” Varian said, appearing at her side, weapon still clutched tight. “We saw you ride by and stopped here when we saw that you and your men had come here!” Varian gave a cursory look around the room, eyes widening just a bit in wonder. Being prince, he had probably never been in a run-down place like this.

And boy was it run down – Cassandra swore that she was smelling the color _brown,_ she just wasn’t sure how.

“Well, if it isn’t the Prince of Corona _himself,”_ a drawling voice said. At this, Cassandra took notice of two men in handcuffs just off to the side of the guards. They were tall and burly with thin red hair and large chins, near identical at first glance save the eyepatch of one and the scar of another.

_The Stabbington Brothers._

On instinct, Cassandra pulled her arm around to push Varian behind her slightly. He tried to fight this, but despite his recent training in combat wasn’t strong enough to fend off her grasp. Her hold on him didn’t stop his glare at the brothers, his expression just as cold as when he had stared down Flynn. Varian had learned before they left of the Stabbington Brothers’ role in all of this, so all his anger was at them too.

The slightly taller one – the one with the scar and no eyepatch – smirked at Varian’s scowl, turning his head on its side a bare fraction.

“What’cha going to do, your highness?” he said. “Use your reject magic to fight us?”

Varian’s face turned deeper than scarlet, almost maroon, but his eyes were still frozen over blue.

“I do not _work with magic!”_ Varian said. “I am an _alchemist_!”

Rumors swirled in the kingdom about Varian, Cassandra knew that. Some called him dangerous because of his interests, gossip unsure of his science was really science or just plain magic. As the years had passed, Varian had tried in vain to squash these rumors every which way, but they always came to him. Right now, however, was not exactly the best place for that.

“Varian is _now_ really the best time for that?” she said. She spared him another glance before turning back to her father with her own death glare.

“Cassandra,” Dad said. He spared Varian a quick glance. “Your Highness.” Varian rose an eyebrow at this acknowledgment. “While we appreciate your trying to help, I think it would be best if you left this to us. We’re right on the edge of a lead here.”

Dad was shooing them out of the door now, stepping forward to push them back. Cassandra frowned, refusing to move.

Dad was not going to send her off – he was just being overprotective as always. He was always doing this to her, treating her like a child and sending her away when she could help him. This needless crusade to keep her safe was the whole reason she had never gotten an assignment to be a guard. Her first time in the field had to come from her pleading friend instead.

This was her one chance to prove herself to her father, and she was not going to let it slip between her fingers.

“D-Captain,” Cassandra schooled herself, “we have information on Flynn Ryder. He’s not alone.”

From over Dad’s shoulder, Cassandra saw one of the men give a sharp intake of breath. It was a short, stocky man with a shiny bald head and the thinnest whisper of a mustache. Cassandra cataloged this for later.

“Really?” a guard by the door asked. Varian nodded his head.

“Yes!” Varian said. “A blonde girl. She’s actually—”

“Who she is not important,” Cassandra butted in before Varian could continue his theory on Rapunzel’s identity. That was a can of worms Cassandra was personally not ready for them to open.

Cassandra heard another breath and from the corner of her eye, she could see movement from one of the windows. It was dark and quick, so quick that Cassandra wondered if she was just imagining whatever it was.

Varian looked up at her immedailty after, eyes wide. He had seen it too, she could tell.

That was also suspicious. This pub was strange, actions going around them and many players here. It seemed the occupants knew something they didn’t, if the man’s reaction was anything to go bye. And it appeared something or maybe someone was lurking outside. Something strange was indeed going on here.

Before she could say anything, something else just had to interrupt them.

^ **^** ^

Gothel had seen many things in her extended life-span, some quite strange. She was a former Sister after all, they revealed in the strange and unusual. But she would admit that semi-sentient horse was rather new.

She cautiously watched from her spot outside the pub (named something about a duckling, she couldn’t quite bring herself to care), carefully ducked down and her hood pulled over her head. The white horse was sniffing around the pub as if he was a dog, something the guards seemed to be following with utmost respect. That was more than what could be said for the girl, Cassandra, whom had been almost immedailty met with harsh looks and derision.

Gothel had felt the barest of sympathy for her, remembering the flippant words of one Mother Harlot.

Her attention, however, was quickly adjusted onto Varian. Her first goal may to be to get Rapunzel back, but to have this boy in her clutches was something she couldn’t pass up. If she could find away to get him alone, then she would have at least one cosmic child on her side. The Moonmist…. it’s magic would be useful, especially for Mother Harlot and the other Sisters.

She watched him with a critical eye, narrowing them when she saw him rush forward through the tunnel the horse uncovered, before anyone could grab him. Gothel did not bother to run or move, no, there were guards. If she rushed for him now, then she would be stopped. She would just have to find out where the tunnel led.

After all, it seemed Rapunzel was there too.

The sun and moon…almost there for her taking…

“ _Who_ are you?” a voice asked, and she could feel the cold but sharp tip of a blade against her back.

Gothel didn’t flinch, she didn’t give any inclination that she had been surprised by this person. She merely turned on her heel, forcing herself to give the sweetest and most innocent smile she could muster.

Gothel was not surprised that the sword belonged to that Cassandra girl. Gothel should have kept a better eye on her through the bar window, but Varian had been so close. Mother Harlot would have her head if she knew that she had been distracted by one piece of the puzzle, rather than the whole picture.

“ _The world is made of many moving parts, Sister Gothel,”_ Mother Harlot had said, “ _do not be distracted by the shiniest one.”_

Up close, Gothel couldn’t help but find the young girl familiar from somewhere. Cassandra had green eyes like Rapunzel, but while Rapunzel’s was a bright green like grass, Cassandra’s was closer to olives and ivy. Like Gothel herself, she was tall and slender with a bundle of dark curls, except Cassandra’s was cut short to her chin and in a loose bunch of tangles rather than neat tresses.

Cassandra’s fiery olive eyes narrowed when Gothel did not answer at first, pushing her sword against the skin of her flesh. It was close enough to touch, enough to be threatening, but not enough to cause an immediate scratch on impact. Gothel noted this with a coy smile – it was cautious move. Though this Cassandra did not show it, it seemed she had a bit of nerves.

“Who are you?” Cassandra repeated again, this time more forceful. “And why were you watching through the window?”

Gothel quickly ran through her options for this scenario. She could always fend off Cassandra on her own and not bother with this little setback. Her magic may be weaker now than ever, but it was more than enough for one warrior, especially now that Cassandra’s one ace in the hole – Varian – had disappeared into the tunnel.

But there was always the chance that this girl _knew s_ omething. Why else would someone like Varian, someone with immense power, place their trust in someone like Cassandra? Cassandra was nothing more than a simple girl with a sword, but Varian had ventured out with her. Perhaps she knew at least a little of this boy and what he could do.

That would be very valuable indeed.

With this in mind, Gothel threw on a smile and rose her hands up to feign innocence.

“Me?” Gothel said. “Why I’m just a simple woman, really. I’m merely out looking for my daughter, she’s gone missing. Well, I guess _missing_ wouldn’t be the right word…”

Cassandra growled under her breath and stepped closer to her, digging the sword closer to breaking her skin.

“Then what word would you use then?”

“ _Stolen.”_ Gothel gave a dramatic sigh and began to wring her hands softly. “You see, I left my daughter alone for a few days and I came back to find her gone. Run off with some thief, if her note is anything to go by; apparently, he managed to secure enough for them to live off of. What was his name again? Finn? Fred? –”

“ _Flynn Ryder.”_ Cassandra’s voice was like ice.

“Yes!” Gothel said. She pulled a convincing appreciative smile. “That’s him!”

Cassandra raised a brow but did not remove the sword.

“What does your daughter look like?”

“Well, I hardly see how that is of concern –”

“Ma’am,” Cassandra said. “This is very important. _Please_ tell me, what does your daughter look like?”

Gothel’s heart quickened with panic but also with some delight. Cassandra had seen Rapunzel it seemed, which was a good thing. All the better for Gothel’s needs. But that also meant that Varian had most likely seen her, which could spell disaster for her. What if they had touched?...

Gothel tucked away that last panicked worry for the moment, pushing herself back into the role of concerned mother.

“Well, oh, she is a bit younger than you, with bright green eyes and a few freckles,” Gothel said. She made sure to put a bit of pride in her voice. Most people sounded proud when talking about their children’s appearance. “She wears a lovely purple dress and she has –”

“Long blonde hair?” Cassandra supplied.

“I guess _long_ might be a bit of an understatement, but yes,” Gothel said. There was no way to deny the length of Rapunzel’s hair. “She wanted to see how long she could grow it out when she was little, and then when she got older refused to let me cut it. You know how kids can be!”

Gothel was over-explaining, and she knew it, but she also knew that Cassandra was sure to ask about the hair sooner or later. It was best to feed her a story now, until Gothel decided how useful she would be in the future, the thin outlines of a plan already forming in her head.

A beat passed as Cassandra processed what she said, and for a moment Gothel briefly panicked that Cassandra was onto her lying. Cassandra gave her a once-over again before lowering the sword, the sharp metal point directed towards the grassy ground.

“But why are you out here, just watching a bar?” Cassandra asked.

“Oh, I heard that they may have passed through here,” Gothel said. “But then I arrived to see His Highness, Prince Varian inside, and I was much too frightened and nervous to enter a room with royalty. I am, after all, but a simple peasant woman.”

Gothel knew the excuse was flimsy, but it was the best she could think of for now. Gothel knew how to play people and transform to different roles but playing the part of the weak and helpless was never her strong suit. She noted the conflict in Cassandra’s eyes on whether to believe her and Gothel pondered for a moment if just one teeny-tiny hypnosis spell was too much for her.

Luckily, it seemed Cassandra took to believing her before Gothel could truly consider the answer of hypnosis.

Cassandra sighed and put away her sword, giving Gothel a well-meaning and sympathetic look.

“I’ve seen your daughter, Rapunzel, and she is in fact with this Flynn Ryder,” Cassandra said. “I believe I may be able to help you find her.”

Gothel couldn’t help the smile that crawled on her face. It seemed she had Cassandra right where she wanted her.

^ **^** ^

“ _Well,_ I got to say,” Flynn said, holding the lantern in front of them. “I didn’t know you had it in you, but I am _very_ impressed.”

From behind him, Rapunzel was nearly buzzing with her own excitement. She could hardly believe everything that had just happened. Take on ruffians and then singing with them and _oh –_ it was all so surreal. And after all that, they had shown her and Flynn a way out! A way to be safe!

Sure, the cave was dusty and dank, and Rapunzel was pretty sure that was a dead skeleton they just passed, but she couldn’t bring herself to care. All she could think to do was clutch her frying pan tightly with smile brimming from ear to ear.

“I know!” Rapunzel said. Flynn gave her a strange look and Rapunzel become acutely aware that she was screaming. Rapunzel coughed once to clear her throat and pulled her pan behind her back, giving Flynn a look of what she hoped was of cool confidence. “I mean, I know.”

Flynn gave her another look, one he made sometimes when she did something strange, before tuning away from her, a gentle smile crossing his face. It wasn’t one of his fake smiles either, more like the one he had given her in the forest; genuine and real. It was an honest smile, she supposed, no tricks or double meanings lurking beneath it, waiting to lie to her.

Yes, an honest smile, that’s what she could call it. It was one of his honest smiles.

A little adrenaline from earlier still in her, she smiled herself and pushed her hair behind her ear.

“So…Flynn?” Rapunzel dared. “Where are you from?”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Flynn said quickly, his delivery speed so astoundingly quick that Rapunzel was almost impressed. “Sorry Blondie, I don’t _do_ backstory. I am, however, becoming quite interested in yours.”

Rapunzel was unsure what to make of that. A little bit of her was excited, after all, he wanted to know about her. She didn’t know why that made her so excited, but it did. Flynn was interested enough in her that he wanted to know more about where she come from her.

Another part of her was put on edge by that, because, after all, her life was shrouded in secrecy. She had already withheld the truth from him by omission, could she bring herself to lie if he started asking questions she couldn’t answer? Did she want to lie to him about it? It would be nice, she admitted, to have someone else besides her and Mother to know about what she could do. It would be less of a burden.

“Now, I know I’m not supposed to mention the hair –”

“Uh-huh.”

“—or the mother –”

“Nope.”

“—frankly I’m too scared to ask about the frog –”

“ _Chameleon.”_

“—but here’s my question. If you want to see the lanterns so badly, why haven’t you just gone yourself?”

And there it was, the very question she was dreading, the one she knew he would ask. What could she say? She was never very good at lying, Mother had made sure of that, and Rapunzel supposed that she was starting to trust Flynn a little more as time passed.

But it was still such a big secret. The second it was out, she could never take it back. Flynn would always know, it would become a burden on him too to keep, if she managed to convince him not to tell anyone. Not to mention Mother would be _furious_ that Rapunzel had told someone else.

“Uh…” Rapunzel gave a soft, nervous laugh, sharing a look with Pascal on her shoulder, “…well…”

Rapunzel’s words stopped in time for a rock to fall from the roof of the cave, the small object landing next to crack by her foot. Then the whole cavern back to shake, rocks bouncing in quick succession and unlit lanterns on the walls beginning to vibrate uncontrollably. The sound of harsh foot prints could be heard as something raced right towards them.

Panic swelled in Rapunzel and she turned to Flynn with wide, frightened eyes.

“Uh, Flynn...?” she asked. Flynn wasn’t looking at her, however, but at something just over her shoulder.

Rapunzel turned to see what it was, and what she found did little to ease her. What had been a dark and empty cavern was filling with a soft orange glow belonging to a torch, it’s wielder – a man with red and gold armor – racing towards them with a furious glint in his eyes, similarly dressed man following behind him.

Rapunzel’s eyes widened even more when she spotted among them a familiar combination of dark hair and blue fabric, his bow notched with an arrow already as he rushed towards them.

Varian was back and had brought an army it seemed.

“Flynn?!” she said again, louder this time.

“Run!” he ordered for the second time that day, and Rapunzel didn’t hesitate. She gathered her hair in quick bunches as she took off, turning away from the pursuing men as she and Flynn tried their best to get away.

Her and Flynn kept running to the end of the tunnel, their only sense of direction being their single source of light. She could hear the grew behind her, but she didn’t dare turn around to meet them, knowing it would only slowly them down.

The cave eventually gave way to an ending. Her and Flynn didn’t slow as they ran out of the cave, but she stopped dead in her tracks next to Flynn when she saw where the cave had led them. Her eyes blinked rapidly as she tried to get used to the bright light again, but she could tell they were in deep now.

The cave led directly to a cliff, one so high up that it would be hazardous to jump from at this height and unless you had a plan, something they did not at the moment. The cliff seemed to be in a canyon of some kind, the thick and rocky edges jutting out unevenly. A large dam was built on one side, a wheel turning next to it as water slid down a wooden slide to the ground, letting the water flow without causing a flood.

A thin rope ladder seemed to lead down to the ground, and she looked across to see an exit into the other side across the way. Her heart caught in her throat. Could she and Flynn get there in time before Varian and the others caught up to them?

The sound of breaking wood pulled her away from the exit and the panic, and she watched as from a second, boarded up cave broke wooden planks to reveal two men with swords. Tall, stocky men with scars and eyepatches, like the men from the bar, but unlike the men from the bar they seemed far less likely to listen.

Her eyes blinked in surprise.

“Who’s that?” she said.

“They don’t like me,” Flynn said simply.

From the cave they had just exited came the strange looking men in uniforms, Varian in tow behind them with a scowl.

“Who’s that?” she asked about the uniformed men.

“They don’t like me.”

From behind the men rushed a white stallion, saddle-less with not rider. On it’s saddle was the same insignia as was on the uninformed men’s chest and Rapunzel got the feeling that mean the horse wasn’t all that friendly.

“Who’s _that?”_

“Let’s just assume for the moment that everyone in here doesn’t like me!” Flynn yelled in exasperation.

Rapunzel scowled and looked around the canyon for something, _anything_ she could use to their advantage. Her eyes landed on broken wooden beam above them and then at another ledge just across the way, and she nodded to herself, a plan now ready in her head.

She flung her pan at Flynn, pushing into his arms with an irritated look.

“ _Hold this!”_

She swung her hair as far as it could and wrapped the golden strands around that wooden beam, delighted when it actually worked. Taking a moment to steady herself and make sure it was secure with one tug, she clutched on tightly, took a deep breath and then jumped.

“ _Rapunzel, wait!”_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *shows up a week late without Starbucks*  
> I'm so, so sorry that this once again is late. I recently started a new job so a bunch of time I would have spent writing now goes to work, so with both school work and work work, sometimes I just don't have time or am just too exhausted to work on this. I really am sorry for this being late again.
> 
> So I am going to pre-warn you, I have TWO ten-page research papers due in the near future, so my updates on fanfiction will be sparse because of it. I have a break coming up, so I might be able to get out another chapter before the end of November, but I might not be. I just wanted to let you guys know. I'm sorry for this inconvenience, but at the end of the day my school work has to come first. 
> 
> But, back to the fun stuff! How'd y'all like this chapter? I had so much fun writing the Gothel and Cass interactions! If Gothel seems OOC, it's because I interpret Gothel kind of like Hans from Frozen. Gothel is good at picking up and mirroring what her victim needs while still being in control, for Rapunzel it's that "Mother" presence we all know, for the Stabbington brother's, it's that manipulative but alluring presence from the woods, and for Cass, it's someone she can help, someone that can subtly manipulate a goal.
> 
> And more stuff on the Sisters! They'll come out more in full as we keep going, especially once we get into a series timeline, but I'm having a blast with them right now.
> 
> I hope all y'all are having a blessed day and hope to be back soon!  
> \-- Princess Chess


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